A new species of the genus Subniganda Kiriakoff, 1962 (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) from India and Nepal.

The present paper describes a new species of Notodontidae Subniganda bambusoides Mazumder & Schintlmeister sp. nov. from the Himalayan and northeastern landscapes of India and Nepal. It also provides a comparative diagnosis with its congeners S. tristan (Schintlmeister, 1997) and S. isolde (Schintlmeister, 1997) along with detailed morphological and genitalic illustrations.

New records of Notodontidae Stephens, 1829 (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) from India.

The present study discusses the systematic accounts of ten species of the family Notodontidae recorded here for the first time from India. The species were collected from different parts of Indian Himalaya, the majority being reported from the Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. Among these ten species, we present two new combinations under subfamily Spataliinae, viz. Odnarda leechi comb. nov. and Torona lucida comb. nov. based on the affinities in male genitalia structure with these recently upgraded genera compared to the previously considered expanded concept of Biula and Bireta, respectively. Moreover, three genera under subfamily Notodontinae viz. Himalodontosia, Periphalera and Pseudosomera are newly added to the existing Indian Notodontidae fauna with respective species H. mahendra, P. albicauda and P. noctuiformis yunwu. Another five new records include one species of the subfamily Dudusinae - Tarsolepis taiwana, one species of the subfamily Spataliinae - Ogulina ochrocinerea, and three species of the subfamily Notodontinae - Syntypistis synechochlora, S. witoldi and Ptilodon amplius. Thus, the present study updates the Indian Notodontidae richness to a total of 257 species and 15 subspecies (272 species/subspecies including nominotypical subspecies) under 119 genera. Here, we provide species diagnoses with similar congeners along with habitus, genitalia images, information on the bionomy and distribution map for each of these newly recorded species.

New and less known Notodontidae from Manipur, India (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea).

The present study discusses the systematic accounts of 66 species of the family Notodontidae recorded from the Indian state of Manipur. There are some records of the moths from other places including Sikkim (India) and Nepal in addition to Shirui Hill, Manipur. Here, we report, (1) three new species to science viz. Cleapa ukhrulensis Irungbam & Schintlmeister sp. nov., Spatalina rimbiensis Irungbam & Schintlmeister sp. nov. and Hexafrenum tangkhula Irungbam & Schintlmeister sp. nov.; (2) seventeen species for the first time from India: Hupodonta corticalis Butler, 1877, Chalepa binotata Kiriakoff, 1959, Besaia isis Schintlmeister, 1997, Ogulina. argentilinea Cai, 1982, Bireta juncturina (Kiriakoff, 1959), Spatalina melanopa Schintlmeister, 2007, S. desiccata desiccata (Kiriakoff, 1963), S. umbrosa (Leech, 1898), Phalera albocalceolata (Bryk, 1950), Neodrymonia albinomarginata Schintlmeister, 2007, Syntypistis wunna (Schintlmeister, 1997), S. scensus (Schintlmeister, 1997), Harpyia nadiae Morozov, 2013, Hexafrenum viola (Schintlmeister, 1997), Rachiades lichenicolor siamensis Sugi, 1993, Pheosiopsis norina Schintlmeister, 1989, and Periphalera spadixa Wu & Fang, 2003; and (3) one genus for the first time from India: Rachiades Kiriakoff, 1967. Thus, the present study updates the Indian Notodontidae richness to a total of 281 species (including nominotypical subspecies) and 16 subspecies under 120 genera. Here, we provide species diagnoses along with habitus, and genitalia images for each of these newly recorded species.

A contribution to the knowledge of the prominent moths (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea, Notodontidae) of the Maputo Special Reserve with descriptions of four new species.

This paper provides the first comprehensive summary of the Notodontidae fauna of the Maputo Special Reserve in southern Mozambique listing 51 species. Four species are described as new to science (Thacona smithi László Schintlmeister sp. n., Arciera meridiana László Schintlmeister sp. n., Leptolepida krugeri László Schintlmeister sp. n., Thaumetopoea latinivea László Schintlmeister sp. n.) and 23 species are recorded as new country records. Several taxonomic changes are made: the genus Arciera Kiriakoff, 1962 is reinstated and a lectotype is designated for Turnaca grisea Holland, 1893; Thacona pinheyi is transferred to the genus Subscrancia Gaede, 1928 (Subscrancia pinheyi (Kiriakoff, 1965) comb. nov.); and Hoplitis gigas Distant, 1899 is reinstated from synonymy to species rank (Amyops gigas (Distant, 1899) stat. rev.). 106 colour and 40 black and white diagnostic figures are provided including the hitherto unknown females of Archistilbia mlawula Schintlmeister Witt, 2015 and Eurystauridia iphis Kiriakoff, 1968.

A new species of Nerice Walker, 1855 and further additions to the catalogue of Indian Notodontidae Stephens, 1829 (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) from Himalaya with report of range extensions.

The present work deals with the additional species of Notodontidae recorded from different provinces of Indian Himalaya subsequent to the publication of Catalogue of Indian Notodontidae which provided systematic account of 242 species and 10 subspecies. Current communication comprises: (I) Description of a new species of genus Nerice Walker, 1855, Nerice (Nerice) mishmiensis Mazumder, Raha, Chandra Schintlmeister sp. nov., from Eastern Himalayan landscape of Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, along with a comparative diagnosis with two other congeners viz. N. aemulator Schintlmeister Fang, 2001 and N. upina Alphéraky, 1892; (II) Reporting of 3 species new to the Indian fauna from Eastern and Western Himalaya: Periergos genitale Schintlmeister, 2002, Honveda nepalina Nakamura, 1976 and Syntypistis nigribasalis tropica (Kiriakoff, 1974) with their diagnosis and genitalic illustrations; (III) Addition of 5 species and 1 more subspecies to the existing list from various literature; (IV) Additional distribution records of 40 species detected through primary sampling along with details of the materials examined; among which 3 species viz. Pseudallata laticostalis (Hampson, 1900), Baradesa lithosioides lithosioides Moore, 1883 and Ptilodon flavistigma (Moore, 1879) showed unusual altitudinal records around 3000 m. Thus, altogether Indian Notodontidae fauna has been updated to 247 species (including nominotypical subspecies) and 15 subspecies under 116 genera of 10 subfamilies.

Global phylogeography reveals the origin and the evolutionary history of the gypsy moth (Lepidoptera, Erebidae).

We examined the global phylogeography of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) using molecular data based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Populations from all biogeographic regions of the native and introduced range of L. dispar, were sampled to fully document intraspecific and subspecies variation, identify potential cryptic species, and to clarify the relationships among major phylogeographic lineages. We recovered three major mtDNA lineages of L. dispar: Transcaucasia; East Asia + Japan; and Europe + Central Asia. The circumscription of these lineages is only partially consistent with the current taxonomic concept (i.e., L. dispar dispar; L. dispar asiatica; L. dispar japonica), with the following important discrepancies: (1) north-central Asian populations, including topotypical populations of L. dispar asiatica, may be more closely related to European rather than Asian segregates, which would require the synonymization of the taxon asiatica and establishment of a new name; (2) the Japanese populations (L. d. japonica) are not distinct from east Asian populations; (3) the presence of a distinct, unnamed mitogenomic lineage endemic to the Trancaucasus region. We demonstrated that the population from Transcaucasia contains the highest mitochondrial haplotype diversity among L. dispar, potentially indicative of an ancestral area for the entire dispar-group. Our study corroborates the endemic Hokkaido, Japan taxon Lymantria umbrosa (Butler) as the sister group to all other L. dispar populations, but the applicability of the names umbrosa versus hokkaidoensis Goldschmidt needs to be re-evaluated. The ancestral area analysis suggest that Japan was likely colonized via Sakhalin ∼1 Mya, in contrast to previous studies which have suggested colonization of the Japanese archipelago via the Korean Peninsula. Lastly, mitogenomic variation within L. dispar is incongruent with phylogenies based on nuclear DNA, as nDNA gene phylogenies did not recover the three major mtDNA lineages, and also failed to recover L. dispar and L. umbrosa as reciprocally monophyletic.

Euhampsonia rubricata spec. nov., a new moth species from northeastern India and western Myanmar (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae).

A new notodontid species, Euhampsonia rubricata spec. nov., is described from NW India and W Myanmar and compared to its eastern sister species E. sinjaevi Schintlmeister, 1997. The female genitalia of the latter are illustrated for the first time. A full synonymic list of the genus Euhampsonia is provided.

Notodonta dedmazai sp. nov., a new notodontid moth from Bhutan (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae).

Recently, a small series of an unidentified notodontid moth from Bhutan was presented to me by Pavel Morozov (Moscow). The moth is described below, and represents a hitherto unknown species of the holarctic genus Notodonta Ochsenheimer, 1810 and the first record for the genus in the Himalayas.