Research Article |
Corresponding author: Vitaliy M. Spitsyn ( vitalik91993@yandex.ru ) Academic editor: Alberto Zilli
© 2018 Vitaliy M. Spitsyn, Ivan N. Bolotov.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Spitsyn VM, Bolotov IV (2018) Barsine podbolotskayae sp. n. from Flores Island, Lesser Sunda Archipelago, Indonesia (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae). ZooKeys 768: 105-111. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.768.24345
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Herein Barsine podbolotskayae sp. n. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) is described from Flores Island, Lesser Sunda Archipelago, Indonesia. This local endemic species externally resembles Barsine exclusa Butler, 1877 from Sundaland and the Andaman Islands but differs by marking patterns and male genitalia structure.
East Nusa Tenggara, island biogeography, lichen moths, Wallacea
The Lesser Sunda Archipelago is a vast island group, which includes several large islands such as Timor, Sumbawa, Sumba, and Flores. This archipelago together with Sulawesi and the Moluccas is a part of the Wallacea. This region consists of two mostly distinct transition zones between the Oriental and Australasian biotas, i.e., a humid forest northerly zone from the Philippines to Sulawesi and the Moluccas, and a seasonal forest and savannah southerly zone along the Lesser Sunda chain from Java to Timor (
The lichen moth genus Barsine Walker, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) (type species: Barsine defecta Walker, 1854) is widespread across the Oriental tropics from the mainland to the Lesser Sunda Islands and Moluccas, but it is replaced by Cyme Felder, 1861, another morphologically similar and possibly related genus, in New Guinea and Australia (
The present short correspondence describes Barsine podbolotskayae, a species new to science that occurs in Flores.
This study is based on the materials from the collection of the Russian Museum of Biodiversity Hotspots (RMBH thereafter) of the Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Arkhangelsk, Russia. The genitalia were dissected and mounted on a glass slide with Histofluid® (Paul Marienfeld GmbH & Co., Germany). The images of specimens were taken with a Canon EOS 650D camera (Canon, Tokyo, Japan). The photos of the genitalia were obtained using two research stereomicroscopes (SteREO Discovery.V8 and AXIO Zoom.V16, Carl Zeiss, Germany).
Holotype: ♂, INDONESIA, Lesser Sundas, East Nusa Tenggara, Flores Island: Sano Ngoang Lake, camp site, secondary mountain forest with old nutmeg trees on a hill slope, 8°42'33.50"S, 119°59'51"E, 21–22 January 2015, Bolotov leg., in RMBH (voucher no. Sph0682). Paratypes: 3♂♂, 2♀♀, same data as holotype, all in RMBH (vouchers nos. Sph0683, Sph0731, Sph0732, Sph0733 and Sph0734).
The new species externally resembles Barsine exclusa Butler, 1877, similarly patterned on forewing, both showing the outer boundary of the discal patch of ground color lined by W-shaped postmedial line. However, the new species differs by the lack of a discal spot within that patch (vs presence of a gray discal spot), its bright crimson-colored hindwing (vs pinkish-yellow or pinkish-white), and stronger developed gray markings on forewing, with broad dark shading beyond the postmedial line (vs weaker developed gray markings and lack of broad dark terminal shading). The male of B. podbolotskayae sp. n. can be distinguished from those of all other known species of Barsine, including B. exclusa, by a dorsally directed, robust, spine-like central costal process of the valve and a bundle of dorsally directed, long setae proximal to it (vs lack of such features). It differs from B. exclusa also by the narrower neck of cucullus, this rounded and apically setose (vs wider neck of acutely pointed cucullus).
Male. Wingspan 22–24 mm, forewing length 11–12 mm (N = 4). Eye black; antenna red dorsally and gray ventrally; frons red-orange, vertex orange with black spot in the middle; labial palpus stout, straight and short (equal to eye diameter), brick red. Thorax dorsally orange-red; patagium and tegula brick-red with black spot in the middle; underside and legs crimson. Forewing upperside brick red, with a few indistinct gray dots in basal area, angled antemedial and medial wide gray lines joined at middle in shape of ‘X’ mark (Fig.
Female. Wingspan 27–28 mm, forewing length 13–14 mm (N = 2). Patterned as in male (Fig.
Male genitalia. Tegumen comparatively long and broad; saccus broad, short, V-shaped (Fig.
Female genitalia. Ostium bursae broad, funnel-shaped, sclerotized, fused with the seventh sternite; antrum not traced; ductus bursae very short, sclerotized (Fig.
This new species is named in memory of Dr. Marina V. Podbolotskaya (1956–2014), a well-known Russian entomologist.
Flores Island, Lesser Sunda Archipelago; only known from the type locality (Fig.
The new species appears to be Critically Endangered (CR B1a) because it is known to exist at only a single location.
Here we placed B. podbolotskayae sp. n. within the genus Barsine but its placement is in need of further investigation. Features of the costal margin of valva have so far not been found in any other known members of the genus (cf.
The fauna of the Lesser Sunda Islands comprises two species of Barsine: B. podbolotskayae sp. n. (Flores) and B. dohertyi (Sumbawa).
We thank the Associate Editor Dr. Alberto Zilli, Dr. Jeremy Holloway, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful and insightful comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science (project no. 6.2343.2017/4.6), Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (project no. 0409-2015-0143), and Northern Arctic Federal University. We are grateful to Mr. Mikel Albarran Valle (Labuan Bajo, Indonesia) for his great help during this study.