Subject Editor: Sven Erlacher
Within Iran, the Zagros Mountains show high biodiversity, with a wealth of endemic species. One of these is the geometrid moth
In the traditional classification of
The type species of
In a multi-gene phylogenetic analysis, two more species were transferred from
The genus
Recently,
The Zagros Mountains cover an area of 533,543 km2, extending with a length of 2000 km from Eastern Turkey and Northern parts of Iraq to the whole Western and Southwestern parts of Iran (Mouthereau et al. 2011;
As a part of the revision of Iranian geometrid moths, the present study aims to clarify the systematic position of
Type specimens, as well as additional specimens used in this study, were borrowed and studied from the following collections (acronyms after
To test the combination of
Type material and original descriptions were used for the identification of specimens. Documentation and photography of external characters were carried out using a Visionary Digital photography system (LK Imaging System, Dun. Inc., equipped with a Canon EOS 5DSR) and an Olympus E3 digital camera. Preparation of the genitalia was carried out following standard methods (e.g.,
The morphology of male and female antennae, as well as the male hind leg, were studied using a Zeiss Scanning Electron Microscope (
For the drawing of the wing venation, wings were placed on a microscope slide and covered with a drop of ethanol (70–96%). In this setup, all venation is visible and can be photographed. For the photography, we used a Visionary Digital photography system (LK Imaging System, Dun. Inc., equipped with a Canon EOS 5DSR). In Graphic (vers. 3.1 for Mac) these photographs served as templates for the vector drawing of the wing venation by tracing the veins from it.
For the extraction of DNA, the whole abdomen and a leg from a single dry collection specimen were used following the manufacture’s protocol of the DNeasy Blood and Tissue kits (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Amplification of DNA was conducted following
In addition to the data generated in this study, we retrieved sequences of
We ran maximum likelihood analyses with a data set partitioned by codon using RAxML-HPC2 V8.2.12 (
Tracing of geographical coordinates was conducted using ‘Google Earth Pro’ (vers. 7.3.3.7786 for Mac). Distribution patterns were plotted and prepared in QGIS (vers. 3.16.0 for Mac). The elevation profile in QGIS was prepared using Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010) downloaded from
In total, five genes of a single specimen of
Phylogenetic position of
In sense of the traditional classifications of the genera
Our present results show
Additional
2 ♀, Iran, Esfahan, Gandoman S, Gerdeish-e, 200 m, 12./13.vi.2002, leg. J.-U. Meineke, A. Hofmann, Kallies et al., g.preps 0759, 0760/2020 D. Wanke; 1 ♀, Iran, Khuzestan [now Kohgiluyeh va Boyerahmad], Yassoudj [Yasuj], Sisakht, 2250 m, 13.vi.1972, leg. Ebert, Pazouki; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, same data, 13.–14.vi.1972, leg. Ebert & Falkner, g.prep. (♂) 0762/2020 D. Wanke; 2 ♂, same data, Sisakht 50 km NW, 15.–18.vi.1975, leg. Ebert, Falkner, g.prep. 0761/2020 D. Wanke; 1 ♂, same data, 15 km SE Yassudj [Yasuj], 2050 m, 15.vi.1972, leg. Ebert & Falkner, g.prep. 0907/2020 D. Wanke; 1 ♂, S-Iran, Prov. Fars, Tange Surkh, 50 km NW Ardekan, 2250 m NN, 12.–15.vi.1975, leg. Ebert, Falkner; 2 ♂, S-Iran, Fars, Daschte Ardjan, Kotal-Pirehsan, 2000 m, 18.vi.1972, leg. Ebert & Falkner; 1 ♀, S-Iran, Miyan-Kotal, östl. Kazerun,
1 ♀, Iran, Kohkiluye va Boyerahmad, Yasuj, Sisakht, Dena, 2799 m,
1 ♂/♀, Iran, Khuzestan, Emamzadeh, Abdollah-low altitude; Saite 4b,
1 ♀, Türkei [Turkey], prov. Hakkari, Çığıl Suyu-Tal [Zap-Tal], 22 km SW Hakkari, 28.vi.1984, LF, leg. Werner Wolf; in
1 ♂, 1 ♀, Iran, Fars, Straße Ardekan-Talochosroe [Tall Khosrow, today in prov. Kohgiluyeh und Boyer Ahmad], Comé [Komehr], 7.viii.1937, 2600 m, coll. Brandt; in
1 ♂, Iran, Fars, Straße Ardekan-Talochosroe [Tall Khosrow, today in prov. Kohgiluyeh und Boyer Ahmad], Comèe [Komehr], 2600 m, viii.1937, coll. Brandt,
Morphological characters of Iranian
Wing venation of male specimens of
Male genitalia of Iranian
Female genitalia of Iranian
Flying from July to October, possibly in two generations (
Larva described by
This species occurs in the Middle Heights of the mountains, especially the woodland zone (
Habitat in the Zagros Mountains and distribution map of Iranian
So far recorded in the Zagros Mountains, from northern Iraq (Kurdistan) into south-western Iran (Kohgiluyeh-va-Boyer-Ahmad and across the border to the provinces, Khuzestan, Esfahan and Fars) (Fig.
Major issues in conservation biology for protection efforts are the identification of areas with high biodiversity, high rates of endemism and past events, like glacial refugia or environmental changes (
The Zagros Mountains have been identified as an area with a high species diversity of flora and fauna (
Regarding the endemism rate, the Zagros Mountains show the highest richness compared to other Iranian mountain ranges (
Moreover, the Zagros Mountains have played a crucial role as a refuge for diverse fauna and flora during glaciation events.
The results of our study confirm that
Although several areas are protected in the Zagros Mountains (e.g., Arjan, Bakhtegan, Karkheh, Bamu etc.), this unique nature reserve is currently threatened, mainly by human activity. Every year 15,000 ha of Iranian forests burn (in 2020 wildfires burned down over 50,000 ha of oak forests in the Zagros Mountains) and centuries-old trees are destroyed in the process (
We would like to thank Robert Trusch, Michael Falkenberg (both Karlsruhe, Germany), Jörg-Uwe Meineke (Kippenheim, Germany), Axel Hausmann (Munich, Germany) and Marianne Espeland (Bonn, Germany) for the loan of specimens from their collections. Also, thanks to Mehdi Esfandiari and Mohammad Ahmadi (Ahvaz, Iran) for sending us new distribution data. Thanks to Gergely Petrányi for the photos of type specimens. We are grateful to Werner Wolf (Bindlach, Germany) for providing the important specimen from Turkey. Many thanks to Susanne Leidenroth (Stuttgart, Germany) for assisting with the
Taxon identification | Code |
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MM00220 | – | – |
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PS268 |
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PS270 |
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0x17 | – | – |
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0x28 | – | – |
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PS229 | – |
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SMNS_Lep_002232 |
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SMNS_Lep_002234 |
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PS249 |
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PS272 |
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PS271 |
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PS216 |
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PS255 |
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PS232 |
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R1872 | – | – |
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SH1155 | – | – |
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MM00586 | – | – |
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SH0432 | – | – |
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PS251 |
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R1050 | – | – |
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SH0448 | – | – |
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PS241 |
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SH0421 | – | – |
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PS 243 |
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USNM664273 | – | – |
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PS262 |
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MM08463 | – | – |
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MM10459 | – | – | – | – |
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