A Review of Tiger Moths (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Arctiini) From Flores Island, Lesser Sunda Archipelago, With Description of a New Species and New Subspecies

Abstract

The Wallacean Region is considered a unique evolutionary hotspot, but the current knowledge of lepidopteran faunas on certain islands is very far from being complete. Here we present a preliminary checklist of the Arctiini fauna of the Flores Island based on available collection materials and a review of the body of literature. In total, for the island fauna we list 22 tiger moth species, with eight newly recorded species. Among novel records, local endemic Spilarctia mikeli Bolotov, Kondakov & Spitsyn sp. nov. and Aloa cardinalis danau Bolotov, Kondakov & Spitsyn ssp. nov. were discovered. Additionally, several taxa with broad ranges such as Amerila astreus, Creatonotos gangis, Euchromia horsfieldi, Lemyra maculifascia, Nyctemera distincta and Utetheisa pulchelloides were new for the island fauna. In general, 15 taxa are prospective endemic Wallacean elements, among which seven taxa are unknown outside the Flores Island: Orhantarctia cymbalophoroides, Lemyra everetti, L. floresina, Aethalida owadai floresiensis, Nyctemera scalarium regalis, Spilarctia mikeli sp. nov. and Aloa cardinalis danau ssp. nov. Our findings reveal that the tiger moth fauna of the Flores Island has rather moderate level of endemism, with only 32% of putative endemic taxa.

A review of the tiger moth genus Amerila Walker, 1855 from Flores Island, Indonesia, with a description of a new species (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

“…On the Flores Island, this species was recorded from the sea level to 1100 m a.s.l. (Bolotov et al 2018; this study). Figs 1A-D, 2A-C, 3, Table 1 https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:06B657CF-1478-41B5-8E28-D70870E86DD2…”

“…In general, the fauna of tiger and lichen moths (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) of the Lesser Sundas is still insufficiently known, while the insular endemism in this remote archipelago reaches relatively high levels, e.g. at least 32% of Arctiini taxa found on Flores can be considered endemic to this island (Bolotov et al 2018). Furthermore, several endemic genera such as Orhantarctia Dubatolov &Kishida, 2005 andAlbarrania Bolotov, Spitsyn & are known to occur in hard-to-reach mountain areas of the Lesser Sundas (Dubatolov & Kishida 2005;Bolotov et al 2019).…”

“…Conversely, only one species in the genus Amerila Walker, 1855 was recorded from the Flores Island, i.e. the widespread Amerila astreus (Drury, 1773) (Bolotov et al 2018). This genus is rich in endemic species described from New Guinea and adjacent islands (e.g.…”

Estigena Wallacei Sp. Nov. From West Flores, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)

“…Ecologica Montenegrina 22: 27-33 (2019) This journal is available online at: www.biotaxa.org/em Zolotuhin & Witt, 2005 Flores and Sumbawa Local endemic Zolotuhin and Witt (2005); this study P. eggerti Zolotuhin & Witt, 2005 Flores Local endemic Zolotuhin and Witt (2005) P. flores Zolotuhin & Witt, 2005 Flores and Sumbawa Local endemic Zolotuhin and Witt (2005) 2005The DNA extraction and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequencing were performed as described in Bolotov et al (2018). Phylogenetic relations of the COI haplotypes were retrieved with the BOLD COI Full Database, which includes records without species designation (Ratnasingham and Hebert 2007).…”

Eupterote elisavetae sp. nov. from Flores Island, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Eupterotidae)

“…Recently, numerous Lepidoptera species new to science were discovered from the East Nusa Tenggara Islands, primarily from Flores (Brechlin 2001;Zolotuhin & Witt 2005;Yakovlev 2006Yakovlev , 2015Nässig et al 2009;Zolotuhin 2009;Nässig & Bouyer 2010;Spitsyn et al 2016Spitsyn et al , 2019Bolotov et al 2017Bolotov et al , 2018Volynkin 2019). The Eupterotidae fauna on Flores contains two endemic species: Ganisa floresiaca Nässig, 2009 and Pseudojana floresina Nässig & Bouyer, 2010(Nässig et al 2009Nässig & Bouyer 2010).…”