Research Article |
Academic editor: Sven Erlacher
© 2018 Bernd Müller.
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:
Müller B (2018) Biston rosenbaueri sp. n. (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae) from the Balkan Peninsula. Nota Lepidopterologica 41(2): 207-213. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.41.25099
|
A new species of Biston from the Balkan Peninsula is described. This species, Biston rosenbaueri sp. n., has been previously overlooked for a long time. The species is nearest to Biston strataria (Hufnagel, 1767) and also close to B. achyra Wehrli, 1936. Male genitalia and barcoding data are compared for these externially similar species from the Western Palaearctic.
Nahestehend den Arten Biston strataria (Hufnagel, 1767) and B. achyra Wehrli, 1936 wird eine dritte bisher übersehene Art, Biston rosenbaueri sp. n., vom Balkan beschrieben. Die männlichen Genitalien und die Barcodedaten werden mit denen der bisher bekannten ähnlichen westpaläarktischen Arten verglichen.
The genus Biston contains more than 50 species (
In Europe (
These moths are on wing in early Spring, when undoubtedly the dense thoracic scaling aids in thermoregulation.
Recently, Frank Rosenbauer and Peder Skou collected male Biston specimens in Greece, while Egbert Friedrich collected similar specimens in north-western Croatia. Examination of this material reveals the presence of a third, hitherto unknown species morphologically similar to B. stratariaand B. achyra. The results of DNA barcoding confirm the separation of this third species. In this article, this new species is described and its morphological characters are illustrated. Further investigations are needed to clarify whether the Bulgarian specimens (or some of them) belong to this new species.
The publication is based on material obtained from the following institutional and private collections:
EFJ Private collection of Egbert Friedrich, Jena, Germany
BMB Private collection of Bernd Müller, Berlin, Germany
DFL Private collection of Dieter Fritsch, Lörrach, Germany
FRM Private collection of Frank Rosenbauer, Münster, Germany
PSS Private collection of Peder Skou, Vester Skerninge, Denmark
For genitalia preparations, a standard procedure (
Male imagines of Biston species (wingspan 40–45 mm). 1. B. rosenbaueri sp. n., Holotype (Greece, Thrace, Avantas, coll. Rosenbauer). 2. B. rosenbaueri sp. n. Paratype (Croatia, Krk Island, coll. and photo EFJ). 3. B. achyra Wehrli, 1936 (Greece, Samos, Kokkari, coll.
Male genitalia of Biston species. 5–6. B. rosenbaueri sp. n., Paratype (Croatia, Krk Island, coll. EFJ, prep. BMB no. 1032). 7–8. B. achyra Wehrli, 1936, (Greece, Samos, coll. DFL, prep. BMB no. 1036. 9–10. B. strataria (Hufnagel, 1767), (Germany, Berlin-Rosenthal, coll BMB, prep.BMB no. 546.
Biston strataria: 1 ♂, [Germany], Berlin-Rosenthal, 09.iii.[19]66, e.l., B. Müller [leg.], gen. prep. 546 B. Müller, coll. BMB; 1 ♂, Germany, Mark Brandenburg, Dannenreich bei Königs Wusterhausen, 15.iv.1984, leg. J. Gelbrecht, gen. prep. 492 B. Müller, coll. BMB; 1 ♂, Germany, Mark Brandenburg, Dannenreich bei Königs Wusterhausen, 12.iv.1980, leg. J. Gelbrecht, coll.BMB; 1 ♂, Nord-Tunesien, Prov. Jendouba, Kroumirie, 630 m, südl. Ain Draham, 36°45’N, 08°40’E, 20.iv.2006 at light, leg. Henri Hoppe, gen. prep. 549 B. Müller, coll. BMB; 1 ♂, Greece, Epirus, Umg. Joannina/Zagoria, Papigo, 900 m a.s.l., e.l. 26.v.2002/17.ii.2003, E. Friedrich [leg.], gen. prep. 1031 B. Müller, coll. EFJ; 1 ♂, Greece, Thrace, Avantas, 200 m a.s.l., 40°57’38.02”N, 25°54’58.55”E, 1–3.iv.2013, leg. Frank Rosenbauer, gen. prep. 1034 B. Müller, coll. FRM; 3 ♂♂, Greece, Samos, Stavrinides, 1.iv. 2011 (2 ♂♂), 3.iv.2012 (1 ♂), leg. Dieter Fritsch, gen. prep. 1037/1038/1040 B. Müller, coll. DFL. 1 ♂, Germania septentrionalis, Land Brandenburg, Landkreis Havelland, Paulinenaue, NSG Lindholz, 12. März 2007, legit Bernd Müller, coll. BMB; 1 ♂, Hispania, Castilia, Sagoria, S. Ildifonso, 1100–1300 m, 1910, [leg. unknown], coll.
Biston achyra: 2 ♂♂, Israel, nr. Haifa, Nahal Oren, 28.iii.2000, leg. Li/Müller, gen. prep. 1029 (1 ♂), coll. PSS. 1 ♂, Greece, Samos, Kokkari, 9.iii.2010, leg. Bech et al., gen. prep. 1035 B. Müller, coll. DFL. 1 ♂, Greece, Samos, Vourliotes, 18.iii.2015, leg. Bech et al., gen. prep.1036 B. Müller, coll. DFL. 1 ♂, Greece, Samos, Manolates, 3.iv.2012, leg. Bech et al., gen. prep.1039 B. Müller, coll. DFL. 1 ♂ Greece, Samos, 1.7 km WSW Kokkari, 9.iii.2010, leg. Bech et al., coll.
After sending legs for extraction to Guelph, a 658bp fragment (“DNA barcode”) of the mitochondrial COI gene was amplified and sequenced at the Canadian Centre for DNA barcoding (CCDB, Guelph), in the framework of the Lepidoptera Campaign of the international Barcode of Life programme (iBOL). Altogether, barcode data from 72 Biston species were used.
Holotype ♂, Ost-Griechenland [Eastern Greece], Thrakien [Thrace], Avantas, 29.ii.-01.iii.2016, leg. F. Rosenbauer, gen. prep. 1033 B. Müller, deposited in coll.
(Figs
(Figs
The new species is very similar to its relatives Biston strataria (Hufnagel, 1767) (Fig.
Differential characters in the male genitalia of B. strataria, B. rosenbaueri sp. n. and B. achyra.
Structure | Character | Character state | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
B. strataria (Figs |
B. rosenbaueri sp.n. (Figs |
B. achyra (Figs |
||
Juxta | apex | beak-like, with prominent thorn-like extension ventrally | slightly bent, with short rib ventrally | slightly bent, not ribbed ventrally |
lateral margins | posterior half convex, anterior half concave | nearly straight or slightly concave | nearly straight | |
basis width, mm | 0.5 to 0.63 | 0.5 to 0.6 | 0.4 to 0.5 | |
Uncus | laterally | concave | convex | concave |
incision between the processes on apex | shallow | shallow | deep | |
Saccus | anteriorly | medially with short, trapezoid projection | medially with short, trapezoid projection | usually rounded |
Aedeagus | total length, mm | 2.77 to 3.14 | 3.05 to 3.2 | 2.56 to 2.69 |
length of striated part, mm | 1.23 to 1.45 | 1.35 to 1.56 | 0.96 to 1.11 |
Biston rosenbaueri sp. n. is known from northern Croatia and northern Greece. The specimens have been collected at elevations between 200 and 1000 m.
Unknown
The new species is named after the German lepidopterologist Frank Rosenbauer who collected male specimens of the new species in Greece.
Contributed by Axel Hausmann,
Biston strataria (Hufnagel, 1767): BIN: BOLD:AAB4693 (n=59 from Finland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Greece including Crete, Morocco, Tunisia, north-eastern Turkey, Russia (Urals) and Turkmenya). Genetically homogenous, but North African populations slightly diverging (0.6%), one barcoded specimen from Turkmenya diverging by 1.0%. Nearest species: B. achyra from Israel (3.3%).
Biston rosenbaueri sp. n.:BIN: BOLD:ADA6153 (n=7 from Croatia: Island Krk, Gorski Kotar, Greece: Epirus). Genetically homogenous. Nearest species: B. achyra (4.1%).
Biston achyra Wehrli, 1936: BIN: BOLD:ABZ6431 (n=7 from Greece (Samos), Turkey, Israel, Lebanon). Genetically heterogenous, Israeli populations diverging from populations from Samos and southern Turkey by 2.2%. Nearest species: B. rosenbaueri sp. n. (4.1%).
It was rather surprising to find a new large Biston species in the Balkan Peninsula. Future work will focus on the study of the overall distribution and biology of the new species. The description of the hitherto unknown female could improve the morphological differentiation to the known species Biston strataria and B. achyra.
My great thanks go to Egbert Friedrich, Jena, Dieter Fritsch, Lörrach, Michael Leipnitz, Stuttgart, Wolfram Mey,