Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp, Lindt & Kurina, 2022

Viidalepp, Jaan, Lindt, Aare & Kurina, Olavi, 2022, Pljushtchia argoi sp. n., a new geometrid moth from the Western Tien Shan Mountains (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae), Biodiversity Data Journal 10, pp. 82353-82353 : 82353

Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp, Lindt & Kurina sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136561 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: male; preparations: pinned/ gen. prep #8899; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136562 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136563 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136564 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136565 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136566 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136567 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : catalogNumber: IZBE0136568 ; recordedBy: Olavi Kurina ; sex: female; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 19; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: EMY; collectionCode: IZBE; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : recordedBy: Allan Selin ; sex: 1 male, 3 females; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; collectionCode: Collection A. Lindt; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : recordedBy: Allan Selin ; sex: 7 males, 12 females; preparations: pinned; Taxon : scientificName: Pljushtchia argoi Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; genus: Pljushtchia ; specificEpithet: argoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Viidalepp , Lindt & Kurina, 2022; Location : continent: Eurasia; country: Uzbekistan; locality: Chatkal NR; cordon at Bashkuzil-saj ; verbatimElevation: 1114 m; decimalLatitude: 41.1752; decimalLongitude: 69.8202; Identification: identifiedBy: Viidalepp J; Event: samplingProtocol: light trap; year: 2009; month: September; day: 20; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; collectionCode: Collection A. Selin; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Description

Moths medium-sized, with 21-25 mm wingspan (Figs 2 , 3 ). Collar and thorax greyish-brown, abdomen grey. Frons projecting about 1/3 length of eye diameter. The shape of antennae is very peculiar (Fig. 4 ), unipectinate or perhaps defined better as lamellate ventrally in male, the middle segments having short, flat, spoon-shaped, distally broader rounded projections which are longer than diameter of flagellum. Female antennae are saw-dentate ventrally. Forewing in male apically suffused darker, warmer dark brown in female; medial and antemedial fasciae almost straight, postmedial fascia outcurved at the cell end; hind-wing light brown-grey with a pale postmediane fascia which is edged grey on both sides; discal spot grey, uncontrasting in female, almost absent in male. Male genitalia (Fig. 5 ) as described for the P. prima , but valva simple, emarginated ventro-distally, its ventral edge with triangular projection. Labides nearly filiform. Aedeagus 1.0 mm long, the longer cornuti bundle being 0.5 mm long and reaching the base of the subapical bundle of short cornuti. Female genitalia (Fig. 6 ) with antrum wide, ductus bursae short, corpus bursae plain, without signum and provided with a membranous appendix. The last abdominal segment broad, apophyses posteriores as long as apophyses anteriores.

Diagnosis

Moths smaller than P. prima on average. The forewing pattern is dark brown in P. argoi (dark grey in P. prima ) and forewing antemediane fascia is curved outwards on the hind margin of wing (straight in P. prima ). The labides in P. argoi is nearly filiform and thinner than in P. prima . The longer cornuti set is 0.5 mm long and reaching the short, subapical set of cornuti in P. argoi , but shorter and not reaching the subapical cornuti in P. prima (cf. Viidalepp and Kostjuk 2005: fig. 3).

Etymology

The new species is dedicated to Mr. Argo Selin, son of the collector of the moths of the type series of Pljushtshia argoi sp. n.

Distribution

Western Tien Shan, Chatkal Range.

Conservation

A relict of the Miocene epoch (see below), endangered by the climate change and grazing stress ( Zhumanova et al. 2021). Chatkal National Reserve is mostly a pastureland, which is overgrazed despite its protected status ( Sokolov et al. 1990, Borchardt et al. 2011).

Biology

The moth is univoltine, autumnal, confined to the lower edge of the forest tier of Chatkal Range. The local climate is characterised by the winter-spring rainfall ( Aizen et al. 1997) and dry summer.

Figures

Figure 2. Pljushtchia argoi sp. n. male paratype.

Figure 3. Pljushtchia argoi sp. n., female paratype.

Figure 4. Pljushtchia argoi sp. n., male antenna.

Figure 5. Pljushtchia argoi sp. n., male genitalia and aedeagus, holotype.

Figure 6. Pljushtchia argoi sp. n., female genitalia, paratype.