Dodia zhenya Koshkin, 2024

Koshkin, Evgeny S., 2024, A review of the genus Dodia Dyar, 1901 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae) with description of a new remarkable species from the Russian Far East, Zootaxa 5458 (1), pp. 53-72 : 66-70

Dodia zhenya Koshkin sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A175F634-0711-462E-8846-05B852D9EE54

( Figs 4 , 5A, B, C )

Type material. Holotype ( Fig. 1A ): ♂, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, northern part of Bureinsky Range , 100 km NE Chegdomyn, 51°28’02” N, 134°18’26” E, 1450 m, 1.VII.2023, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin (ex EKC, will be deposited in ZISP).

Paratypes ( Figs 1B–F ): 42 males. 9 ♂, with same locality as holotype, 29.VI.2023, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin and Konstantin V. Shaidurov ( EKC, ZISP, ENK, ZMMU) ; 15 ♂, with same locality as holotype, 1.VII.2023, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin ( EKC, FSCEATB, RMBH, ABC, AFC) ; 1 ♂, with same locality as holotype, 2.VII.2023, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin ( EKC) ; 4 ♂, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, northern part of Bureinsky Range , 98–100 km NE Chegdomyn, stone road, 51°27’58”– 51°27’50” N, 134°19’15”– 134°20’13” E, 1500–1600 m, 30.VI.2023, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin and Konstantin V. Shaidurov ( EKC) ; 11 ♂, with same locality, 1.VII.2023, leg. Konstantin V. Shaidurov ( EKC; ISEA; JRС) ; 1 ♂, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, northern part of Bureinsky Range , 96 km NE Chegdomyn, 51°28’5” N, 134°17’33” E, 1350 m, 2.VII.2023, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin ( EKC) ; 1 ♂, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, Bureinsky Nature Reserve, Dusse-Alin Range , headwaters of the Pravaya Bureya River , Novyi Medvezhii cordon, 52°07’56”N, 134°17’30”E, 877 m, 12.VII.2018, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin ( EKC) .

Diagnosis. The new species has light-colored wings with a distinctive pattern of transverse dark bands and spots on the forewings, which differ from other species whose wings have either uniform coloration ( Dodia kononenkoi , D. sikhotensis , D. transbaikalensis , D. maja , D. diaphana ) or weakly expressed elements of pattern ( D. sazonovi ). Dodia zhenya sp. n. differs from D. albertae and D. tarandus by light ground color of wings with a specific dark pattern, including a well-developed discal spot on the forewing, and the absence of a subapical pale dash. In D. albertae and D. tarandus the ground color of the forewings is dark, with light diffuse wavy transverse bands and dusting of light scales; the apex of the forewing with pale dash, and the discal spot is almost not developed. The new species differs from D. verticalis by the pattern of the forewing: the presence of a broad dark band along the outer margin, the shape of the other dark transverse bands, and the developed discal spot. The apex of the valva of D. zhenya resembles D. maja , but the upper process is more distinct, and the lower one is more rounded. Vesica has a structure partially similar to D. albertae . It has a similar apical diverticulum with a crest-like row of 10–12 spines and a sack-shaped broad dorsal diverticulum from which a long finger-like process extends almost perpendicularly to the side. This finger-like process of the diverticulum is absent in any other species of the genus Dodia . The vesica short, about 1/2 the length of the aedeagus.

Description. Adult. Male ( Figs 4A–G ). Wingspan 23.5–27.5 mm (26.5 mm in holotype; average 25.8 mm, n = 43). Forewing length 12–14.5 mm (14 mm in holotype; average 13.4 mm). Head small and rounded, gray-brown. Eyes small, round and widely spaced.Antennae short, filiform, ventrally ciliated, covered with grayish brown scales. Palpi very short. Proboscis reduced. Thorax and abdomen slender, pale gray. Forewing broad, translucent, covered with light gray hair-like and dark paddle-shaped scales. Forewings pale gray with dark pattern. Outer margin with wide brown band, always pierced by light streak between veins CuA2 and 1A+2A. Discal spot large, rectangular, brown. From its lower edge runs thin, wavy, discontinuous brown band. Same bands in medial and subbasal fields. Basal field with dark strokes. The degree of expression of the dark elements of the pattern significantly varies in different specimens. Hindwing uniformly light gray, slightly darker at margins. Cilia light gray on fore and hindwings.

Male genitalia ( Figs 5A, B, C ). Uncus broad at the base and constricted toward the apex. Costal margin of valva nearly straight. The apex of the valva is divided into two short processes, with a small notch between them. The lower process is broad and rounded; the upper process is several times shorter and thinner than the lower one. Juxta oval, wider than long. Aedeagus is short, slightly widened at the base and curved medially. Vesica is short, about half the length of the aedeagus, sac-shaped, with two diverticula. The apical diverticulum is rounded, with a crest-like row of 10–12 spines. The base of the dorsal diverticulum is broad, with a long, finger-like process extending from it in an almost perpendicular direction to the side.

Female. Unknown.

Genetic data. According to the mtDNA barcoding region (COI), Dodia zhenya sp. n. is closest to D. transbaikalensis , differing from it by 2.8–3.4 % p-distance according to private data in BOLD (voucher specimens of D. transbaikalensis MTah263 and Mtah469). The barcode of the new species differs from that of D. sazonovi and D. maja by 3.2–4.1 % p-distance, and by 4.3–6.8 % from other species of the genus Dodia . Intrapopulation barcode ranges of the new species are up to 0.65 % ( Fig. 1 ; Table 2 ).

Dodia zhenya sp. n. is distinguished from other Dodia species by six unique positions on COI: 32(A), 64(C), 206(C), 505(C), 508(G), and 598(G). They are identical in all but one specimen (GenBank accession PP473478) has 508(A), as do other species of the genus. This sample also has a C at position 595, which differentiates it from other Dodia specimens, including the four specimens of the new species (they have a T at this position). The other Dodia species have different nucleotides at these positions: 32(G), 64(T), 206(T), 505(T), 508(A), and 598(A).

Ecology. The population of Dodia zhenya sp. n. is local in the northern part of the Bureinsky Range, although it is quite numerous. The moths inhabit rocky slopes (kurums) with southern and southwestern exposure along an unused mountain road, in mountain tundra and dwarf pine ( Pinus pumila (Parl.) Regel ) forests at altitudes of 1350–1600 m ( Fig. 4H ). Males fly fast and are active only in sunny weather from 11.00 to 18.00. In flight the moths are almost white. At night, the moths were not attracted to light sources. A single male in the Dusse-Alin Range was collected together with males of two other species of this genus ( D. albertae Dyar, 1901 and D. diaphana ( Eversmann, 1848) at night on a light source in a mountain larch forest at an altitude of about 900 m. It is very likely that this specimen of D. zhenya sp. n. was blown down from the nearby slopes with mountain tundra. Its attraction to the light source is coincidental, as this night was very stuffy before the storm. Therefore, many species of butterflies and moths with diurnal activity were attracted to the lamp that night. Special searches for the D. zhenya sp. n. populations in the Dusse-Alin Mountains have not yet been successful. Adults fly from late June to mid-July. The preimaginal stages and larval host plants are unknown. Females have not been found despite active searching. They may be brachypterous and unable to fly.

Distribution. Currently, Dodia zhenya sp. n. is known only from the northern part of the Bureinsky and Dusse-Alin mountain ranges in the central part of the Khingan-Bureya Highlands ( Russia, Far East, Khabarovsk Krai) ( Fig. 6 ). It is possible that this species will be found in other high mountain systems of the Amur Basin in the future.

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to the author’s wife, Zhenya Turikova.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neighbor-joining tree of Dodia species based on sequences of COI fragment, computed using the Kimura 2- parameter method. The percentage of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in the bootstrap test (1000 replicates) is given for those greater than 50 %. Coscinia cribraria is included as an outgroup representative. Data for samples by their GenBank Accession or BOLD sequence ID are shown in Table 1.

FIGURE 4. Dodia zhenya sp. n. A–G—adults (males), habitus: A—holotype, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, northern part of the Bureinsky Range, 100 km NE Chegdomyn, 51°27’50” N, 134°20’13” E, 1500–1600 m, 1.VII.2023; B, C, D—paratypes, same data as holotype; E—paratype, same data as holotype but 29.VI.2023; F—paratype, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, Bureinsky Nature Reserve, Dusse-Alin Range, headwaters of the Pravaya Bureya River, Novyi Medvezhii cordon, 52°07’56”N, 134°17’30”E, 877 m, 12.VII.2018; G—live male, 1.VII.2023; H—habitat of D. zhenya sp. n., the type locality, 1.VII.2023. (Photos by Evgeny Koshkin).

FIGURE 5. Male genitalia of Dodia spp.: A—D. zhenya sp. n., holotype; B—D. zhenya sp. n., paratype, Khabarovsk Krai, Dusse-Alin Range; C—D. zhenya sp. n., paratype, Khabarovsk Krai, northern part of Bureinsky Range; D—D. albertae, Khabarovsk Krai, Dusse-Alin Range (also shown is the apex of the left valva of another male from the same locality).Aedeagus shown in different projections. (Photos by Evgeny Koshkin).

FIGURE 6. Distribution map of Dodia spp. in the south of the Russian Far East. Red circles: D. zhenya sp. n.; black circles: D. diaphana; blue circles: D. albertae; yellow circles: D. sikhotensis; green circle with question mark: D. kononenkoi (dubious find).