Drasteria axuana indecora (John, 1910)

Yu, Alexey & Korb, Stanislav K., 2019, A revision of the genus Drasteria of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with special attention to the adjacent areas (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), Zootaxa 4673 (1), pp. 1-104 : 25

Drasteria axuana indecora (John, 1910) , stat. n.

( Figs. 58–63 (imago), 222, 223 (male genitalia), 274 (female genitalia))

John, 1910a: 420; figs. 1–7 ( Leucanitis indecora ). Type locality: “near Baigakum, Syr-darja, Perovsk district… at Aj-darle of the same district” (by the original description); “St. Baigacum, Syr-Darja” (by the lectotype designation, designated here).

Type material. Lectotype female (designated here in accordance with ICZN Art. 74) ( Figs. 58–60 ), labelled: “specimen | typicum” (white paper, printed), “ St. Baigacum | Syr-Darja 19 IV | 1908 Malyschew.” (white paper, printed paper with handwritten date and month) ( ZISP) . Paralectotypes: 3 males, 6 females ( ZISP) .

John, 1910a: 622 [Baigakum, Aj-Darle, Dshulek]; Poole, 1989: 328; Lehmann et al., 1998: 525 [Bakanas]; Gorbunov, 2011: 58 [southern part of Bolshie Barsuki); pl. 8, fig. 12 [Topar]; Shovkoon, Trofimova, 2016: 607 [Aktobe Prov., near Bozoe vill., sands, N 46°17’; E 58°56’].

Remark. Wing pattern and coloration within this subspecies is darker in common than in the subspecies fumiluna and especially in the nominate subspecies, but it is identical in details with others ( Figs. 52–63 ). The male and female genitalia ( Figs. 220–223 , 273, 274 ) are in all three subspecies identical; using these reasons, we rearrange the taxon indecora as a subspecies of axuana due the Principle of Priority.

Habitat ( Figs. 300, 302, 303 ). Deserts and semideserts. Elevation: 200– 700 m.

Distribution. Deserts and semideserts in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, in the river valleys Ili, Charyn, Syr- Darya, in North-Western part of Kopet-Dagh and Kazakh hills. Very local.

Material examined (in total: 35 specimens). Kazakhstan. 1 ♀, 19.04.1908, St. Baigakum, Syr-Darja , leg. Malyschew, slide Matov 0528 (lectotype) ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Syr-Daria, Baigacum , Koshantschikoff (paralectotypes) ( ZMHU) ; 1 ♂, 3 ♀, 18.04– 8.05.1908, St. Baigakum, Syr-Darja , leg. Malyschew ( ZISP) (paralectotypes) ; 1 ♂, 27.07.[1909], [ Ajdarle ], [leg. I. Kozhanchikov], ex coll. O. John ( ZISP) (paralectotype) ; 2 ♂, 28.07.[1909], [ Ajdarle ], [leg. I. Kozhanchikov], ex coll. O. John ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 2.07.1910, Syr-Darja, Dshulek , leg. I. Kozhanchikov, ex coll. O. John ( ZISP) ; 1 ♀, 6.07.1910, Borlykul valley , leg. Zarudny ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 18– 20.07.1911, Syr-Daria, Baigacum , leg. I. Kozhanchikov, ex coll. O. John ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 11– 12.08.1912, Baigacum , leg. I. Kozhanchikov ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 14.05.1984, Balkhash environs, 150 km NW Bakanas, Taspakha , leg. M. Danilevsky, ex coll. A.V. Nekrasov ( ZISP) ; 1 ♀, 11.07.1986, Balkhash env., Topar , leg. A. Kondratyev, ex coll. A.V. Nekrasov ( ZISP) ; 2 ♀, 2.05.1990, Balkhash env., 20 km E Topar, Zhel-Turanga , leg. S. Toropov, ex coll. A.V. Nekra- sov ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 06.1996, Alma-Ata, Talgarskoe valley , 1500 m, leg. Kadyrbekov, ex coll. A.V. Nekrasov ( ZISP) ; 2 ♀, 25– 27.04.2011, Almaty Prov., 32 km NW of Bakanas, Ili river , leg. S.A. Knyazev ( CKO) ; 1 ♀, 30.04.2012, 17 km E of Kyzyl-Orda city, 138 m, 44º47’N, 65º44’E, leg. P. Gorbunov ( OPB) ; 1 ♂, 7– 9.05.2013, Almaty reg., 28 km NW of Bakanas, riv. Ili , 44054’ N 75055’ E, leg. S. Knyazev ( ZISP) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, 1.05.2014, Tartagai, 142 m, Syr Darya river bank, N 44º24’37.7”, E 66º16’30.0”, leg. D. Shovkoon ( OPB) ; 2 ♂, 3 ♀, 5– 6.05.2017, Kyzylorda Prov. , 15 km NE of Kyzylorda, sands, leg. S.A. Knyazev ( CKO) . Turkmenistan. 1 ♀, 11.04.1892, Tekke, Dortkuju , [leg. O. Herz], ex coll. Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich ( ZISP) (paralectotype) ; 1 ♀, Tekke , [Dortkuju], 11.04.1892, [leg. O. Herz], ex coll. Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich ( ZISP) (paralectotype).

Figures

FIGURES 43–63. Drasteria specimens. 43–51. D. langi obscurata (Staudinger, 1886), Arashan, near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (43–45), Arslanbob, Kyrgyzstan (46), Dolon Pass, Kyrgyzstan (47), Koro-Goo Pass, Kyrgyzstan (48), Biresik, Syrdaryinsky Karatau Mts., Kazakhstan (49), Toktogul, Kyrgyzstan (50), Bolshaya Almaatinka valley, Kazakhstan (51). 52–54. D. axuana axuana (Püngeler, 1907), lectotype (52: upperside; 53: underside; 54: labels). 55, 56. D. axuana fumiluna Wiltschire, 1969, holotype (55) and paratype (56). 57. D. axuana axuana (Püngeler, 1907), paratype. 58–63. D. axuana indecora (John, 1910), lectotype (58: upperside; 59: underside; 60: labels), paralectotypes (61, 62), Almaty vic., Kazakhstan (63).

FIGURES 220–225. Male genitalia of Drasteria. 220, 221. D. axuana axuana (Püngeler, 1907), paralectotype (220: frontal view; 221: aedoeagus, vesica inverted). 222, 223. D. axuana indecora (John, 1910), paralectotype (222: frontal view; 223: aedoeagus, vesica inverted). 224, 225. D. herzi (Alphéraky, 1895), Kara-Kala vicinity, Turkmenistan (224: frontal view; 225: aedoeagus, vesica inverted).

FIGURES 272–277. Female genitalia of Drasteria. 272. D. langi obscurata (Staudinger, 1882), Margelan, Uzbekistan. 273. D. axuana (Püngeler, 1907), paralectotype. 274. D. axuana indecora (John, 1910), lectotype. 275. D. herzi (Alphéraky, 1895), lectotype. 276. D. kusnezovi (John, 1910), Ay-Darle, Kazakhstan. 277. D. rada sibirica (Kozhantschikov, 1925), Minussinsk, Russia.

FIGURES 297–304. Drasteria habitats. 297. 25 km N of Panfilov, Dzhungarian Alatau, Kazakhstan (one of the authors in the collecting trip 2010). 298. Ili river valley near Koktal bridge, Almaty Prov., Kazakhstan (Russian Entomological Society and Institute of Zoology of Kazakhstan collecting trip, 2010). 299. Sands near Dosang environs, Astrakhan Prov., Russia. 300. Saksaul forest near Bakanas, Almaty Prov., Kazakhstan. 301. Chulak gorge, foothills of Dzhungarian Alatau Mts. in the Altyn-Emel Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. 302. Ili river shore near Singing Dunes, Altyn-Emel Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. 303. Katutau mountains, Altyn-Emel Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. 304. Koram environs, northern slopes of Transilian Alatau Mts., Kazakhstan. Photos: S.K. Korb.