Artículos

What is Evergestis pazukii Alipanah, 2018? (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, Glaphyriinae)

¿Qué es Evergestis pazukii Alipanah, 2018? (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, Glaphyriinae)

Introduction

In 2018 from “Iran, Mâzandarân Prov.: Baladeh, Yush, 2100 m” described Evergestis pazukii Alipanah, 2018 (ALIPANAH et al., 2018: 27-30, figs 16-17). When described, it was compared to E. russulatalis (Hampson, 1900) even if “the original description of E. russulatalis, and additional information and illustrations provided by AMSEL (1952) were not so informative to undoubtly identify this species” (loc. cit.). Types of E. russulatalis seemed to be lost, as ALIPANAH et al. (2018) stated. Under such conditions, the description of a new species looks rather dubious, because in fact it was compared with an unclear taxon (the type material of which has not been preserved). Luckily in 2020 E. pazukii was sequenced (KIZILDAĞ, 2020) what gives me ability to check its status and position both by morphology and by DNA barcode.

There is not only E. russulatalis can be considered as closely related species to E. pazukii. In 1958 E. kopetdagensis Kuznetzov, 1958 from “Ai-Dere” in Turkmenistan have been described (KUZNETZOV, 1958). Later it was recorded from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (KORB, 2018); a subspecies E. kopetdagensis sinevi Korb, 2018 described from “Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek env., near AlaToo, 42º47’33.00” N, 74º41’38.36” E, 982 m”. The type material of both E. kopetdagensis kopetdagensis and E. kopetdagensis sinevi is preserved and available in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St.-Petersburg, Russia) (KORB, 2018; MUNROE, 1970). When described, E. pazukii was not compared to E. kopetdagensis. To clarify the status and position of E. pazukii I compare it herein to E. kopetdagensis.

Materials and methods

Traditional methods are used to compare morphological characters; studied specimens deposited in collections of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St.-Petersburg, Russia) and author (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). The following sequences were used for DNA comparison: E. pazukii - MN259518 (KIZILDAĞ, 2020), E. kopetdagensis - MW748223 (paratype of E. kopetdagensis sinevi).

DNA sampling and sequencing made using processes and protocols described in HUEMER et al. (2014). The length of COI sequence obtained for this analysis is 658 sites.

Results

MORPHOLOGY COMPARISON

External morphology of E. kopetdagensis kopetdagensis, E. kopetdagensis sinevi and E. pazukii are similar (figs 1-4). E. kopetdagensis sinevi differs from both E. pazukii and E. kopetdagensis kopetdagensis by darker ground color (it is the main diagnostic feature of this subspecies). E. kopetdagensis kopetdagensis and E. pazukii in their wing pattern and coloration are very similar if not identical.

The male genitalia of E. kopetdagensis kopetdagensis, E. kopetdagensis sinevi and E. pazukii have no differences (figs 5-9).

mtDNA COI sequence comparison

There are only two differences (p-distance 0.003) between compared COI sequences in the following sites:

Discussion and conclusion

Analysis of external features showed minimal differences between E. kopetdagensis kopetdagensis and E. pazukii. There are no differences in the structure of the male genitalia. The COI sequence of both species has differences of only 2 nucleotides (p-distance 0.003); this is less than the generally accepted species p-distance of 0.02 (HEBERT et al., 2003). Based on these facts, I conclude that E. kopetdagensis and E. pazukii are conspecific:

Evergesris kopetdagensis Kuznetzov, 1958 = E. pazukii Alipanah, 2018, syn. n.

Distribution of E. kopetdagensis seemed to be quite wide: from Van Province in Turkey (loc.: Baºkale) through North Iran and South Turkmenistan to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is possible that this species occurs also in Turkey eastwards of Van Province, West Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Acknowledgments

I am very thankful to Dr S.Y. Sinev and Dr A. L. Lvovsky who granted me access to work with Lepidoptera collections of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St.-Petersburg, Russia).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALIPANAH, H., KHODADAD, M., RAJAEI, H. & HASELI, M., 2018.– Taxonomic study of the genus Evergestis Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae: Glaphyriinae) in Iran with description of a new species.– Zootaxa, 4420(1): 1-33.

HEBERT, P. D. N., CYWINSKA, A., BALL, S. L. & DE WAARD, J. R., 2003.– Biological identifications through DNA barcodes.– Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 270: 313-321.

HUEMER, P., MUTANEN, M., SEFC, K. M. & HEBERT, P., 2014.– Testing DNA barcode performance in 1000 species of European Lepidoptera: large geographic distances have small genetic impacts.– PLoS One, 2(12): e115775.

KIZILDAĞ, S., 2020.– The first DNA barcoding records of three Evergestis Hübner, [1825] species in Turkey with molecular evaluations (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, Glaphyriinae).– SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología, 48(190): 289-297.

KORB, S. K., 2018.– A new subspecies of Evergestis kopetdagensis Kuznetzov, 1958 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.– Caucasian Entomological Bulletin, 14(1): 87-89 [in Russian].

KUZNETZOV, V. I., 1958.– Zwei Arten Der Gattung Evergestis Hb. (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) aus West Kopet-Dagh (Turkmenien)).– Entomologitscheskoje Obozrenie, 37(4): 929-932 [in Russian].

MUNROE, E., 1970.– Types of Nymphulinae, Scopariinae, Cybalomiinae, Odontiinae, Evergestinae, and Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in the Zoological Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad, with selections of lectotypes.– Canadian Entomologist, 102(8): 1025-1035.