Wednesday, September 25, 2019

[Entomology • 2019] A Revision of the Genus Drasteria (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with Special Attention to the Adjacent Areas


Drasteria christophi (Alphéraky, 1895)

in Matov & Korb, 2019. 

Abstract
A revision of the genus Drasteria within Central Asia and Kazakhstan with attention to the adjacent areas is presented. The status and position of all Drasteria taxa known from this area is clarified, the primary types are revised, primary types and their genitalia are illustrated. The following lectotypes are designated: Leucanitis aberrans Staudinger, 1888, Leucanitis tenera var. antiqua Staudinger, 1889, Leucanitis axuana Püngeler, 1907, Leucanitis cailino var. obscura Staudinger, 1901, Leucanitis cailino forma baigacumensis John, 1921, Euclidia сatocalis Staudinger, 1882, Ophiusa astrida Eversmann, 1857, Leucanitis herzi Alphéraky, 1895, Leucanitis chinensis Alphéraky, 1892, Ophiusa flexuosa Ménétriés, 1849, Leucanitis flexuosa var. caspica Staudinger, 1901, Leucanitis indecora John, 1910, Leucanitis kabylaria A. Bang-Haas, 1906, Leucanitis kusnezovi John, 1910, Syneda langi Erschoff, 1874, Leucanitis obscurata Staudinger, 1882, Leucanitis cailino var. picta Christoph, 1877, Leucanitis picta var. radapicta Staudinger, 1901, Leucanitis saisani var. clara Staudinger, 1894, Leucanitis scolopax Alphéraky, 1892, Leucanitis sculpta Püngeler, 1904, Leucanitis pamira John, 1921, Leucanitis sesquilina Staudinger, 1888, Leucanitis sinuosa Staudinger, 1894, Leucanitis tenera Staudinger, 1877. The type locality of Drasteria antiqua corrected to “Chinese Kashgaria”. The following synonymy is established: Drasteria flexuosa mongolica (Staudinger, 1896) = D. pulverosa pulverosa Wiltshire, 1969, syn. n.; = D. pulverosa intermedia Ronkay, 1985, syn. n.; D. picta (Christoph, 1877) = Drasteria austera (John, 1921), syn. n. The following new statuses are proposed: D. langi obscurata (Staudinger, 1882), stat. n.D. axuana indecora (John, 1910), stat. n. A new species, Drasteria pseudopicta Matov et Korb, sp. n., from the vicinities of Dosang (Astrakhan Province, Russia) is described. The brief DNA analysis (COI sequence) of the closely related taxa of the Central Asiatic Drasteria is presented. A key to species of the genus Drasteria of the studied area is compiled.

Keywords: Lepidoptera, owlet moths, distribution, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, systematics, nomenclature

Drasteria christophi (Alphéraky, 1895), Syr-Darya river coast near Aksuat, Kazakhstan.
Photo: E. Komarov. 

Alexey Yu. Matov and Stanislav K. Korb. 2019. A Revision of the Genus Drasteria of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with Special Attention to the Adjacent Areas (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). Zootaxa. 4673(1); 1-104. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4673.1.1