Search

Further results of our research into the Giant Butterfly-Moths (Castniidae) of the Museum of Natural History (University of Wrocław) are presented. Castniids of the Niepelt collection had previously been reviewed. However, while curating other sections of the Lepidoptera collection, we discovered 18 misplaced specimens belonging to nine taxa of Castniidae, several of them bearing typical labels by Niepelt. Among them, two are of particular interest, insofar as they are associated with the world-class botanists August Weberbauer (1871–1948) and Karl Adolf Georg Lauterbach (1864–1937).

A total of 972 species of Macrolepidoptera belonging to 28 families are reported for the territory of Omsk Oblast. The most numerous is Noctuidae family represented by 358 species, followed by Geometridae (252 species), Erebidae (48), Lycaenidae (42), Arctiidae (40), Nymphalidae (37), Satyridae and Notodontidae (27 species in each family), Pieridae, Sphingidae, Lasiocampidae (17 species in each family), Hesperiidae (15), Lymantriidae (13), Zygaenidae and Sesiidae (12 species in each family), Drepanidae (10), Nolidae (7), Cossidae (4), Papilionidae and Hepialidae (3 species in each family), Syntomidae, Saturniidae and Lemoniidae (2 species in each family), Endromididae, Uraniidae, Thyrididae, Limacodidae and Brachodidae (1 species in each family). A total of 13 species were registered in Omsk Oblast for the first time, among them Pennisetia hylaeiformis (Laspeyres, 1801), Synanthedon martjanovi Sheljuzhko, 1918, Synanthedon spheciformis ((Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775), Synanthedon uralensis (Bartel, 1906, Bembecia sp., Chamaesphecia astatiformis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1846), Alcis jubata (Thunberg, 1788), Dysstroma infuscata (Tengström, 1869), Scopula tessellaria (Boisduval, 1840), Panchrysia deaurata (Esper, 1787), Amphipoea crinanensis (Burrows, 1908), Euxoa eruta (Hübner, (1827), Xestia sexstrigata (Haworth, 1809). The list of doubtful and erroneously records is given.

Two new species of the tribe Synanthedonini are described from Taiwan: Synanthedonauritinctaoidissp. nov. and Paranthrenellahelvolasp. nov. Diagnostic characters for the two species are presented using body color, wing pattern, and genitalia. New records of the relationships between host plants and the immatures are also provided. S.auritinctaoidis feeds in the trunk of Cinnamomumcamphora (Lauraceae) and P.helvola in callus tissue of Heliciaformosana (Proteaceae) or Prunuscampanulata (Rosaceae).

A new genus of the tribe Brachyglutini (Pselaphinae: Goniaceritae), Kieneriella gen. n., is described based on a new species K. novaecaledoniae sp. n. from New Caledonia. The strongly elongate maxillary palpi of Kieneriella is an unusual character state found in other genera of the tribe. The new taxon is compared with allied relatives, and its major diagnostic features are illustrated.

A new species of long-legged clearwing moth Teinotarsina aurantiaca Yagi, Hirowatari & Arita, sp. n. is described from Okinawa-jima, the Ryukyus, Japan. The species is distinguishable at a glance from other related congeners by the remarkable orange scales ornamenting many parts of the body, such as antennae, palpi, legs, and wings. We hypothesize that the species acquired these differences as a result of convergence with toxic species (Batesian mimicry) or other mimics (Müllerian mimicry).

together with the Clearwing moths (Sesiidae) and the Sun moths (Castniidae), form the superfamily Sesioidea (Minet 1991). The present concept of Brachodidae with two subfamilies, Brachodinae and Phycodinae, was established by Heppner (1981), but the monophyly of the family and its placement in the Sesioidea is still disputed. A probable family autapomorphy is the strong reduction or loss of the ventral arms of the laterocervicalia (Minet 1991). Another character which may prove to be autapomorphic is a conspicuously bicoloured type of scales on forewings and thorax (dark, with a white or light grey distal spot). This scale type is prominent in all Phycodinae and in many Brachodinae taxa examined but has not been mentioned by previous authors. While the monophyly of the Sesiidae and Castniidae appears relatively well established, the inclusion of the Brachodidae into the Sesioidea has been less convincingly demonstrated (Kristensen 1999). A study on the skeleto-muscular morphology, however, supported the monophyly of a group composed of all three families (Kozlov et al. 1998). Superfamily autapomorphies are the enlarged patagia, extending ventrad beyond the anteroventral extremities of the pronotum, the anteriorly strongly pigmented ocular diaphragma, and the caudad or dorsocaudad elongated posterior tendons of the metafurcal apophyses (Minet 1991). Including the species described in this paper, approximately 135 Brachodid species have been named, distributed in all regions, except the Nearctic (Heppner 1981). Although the majority of species were described from the Palaearctic region, the Brachodidae fauna of southern and south-eastern Asia appears to be the most diverse, yet, despite two recent contributions (Kallies 1998, 2000), the knowledge on Oriental Brachodid moths is still rudimentary. The present paper completes an initial survey of the Oriental Brachodidae which was based on the type material and additional specimens selected from unsorted or unidentified material from European, Australian and Japanese institutional collections of Lepidoptera (Kallies 1998, 2000). This study aims to describe the rarely collected south and south-east

Sun moths (Castniidae) constitute a family of day-flying moths that due to their slim bodies, broad and often richly coloured wings and clubbed antennae closely resemble butterflies. However, despite this superficial similarity, sun moths are not related to butterflies but belong to the diverse cossoid assemblage of lepidopterous families (Edwards et al . 1998). Until recently, Castniidae were assigned to the superfamily Sesioidea (Minet 1991). A molecular study by Mutanen et al. (2010), however, failed to find support for a close relationship of Sesiidae and Castniidae, resulting in the inclusion of both families in a larger concept of Cossoidea (Nieukerken et al. 2011). In contrast, Heikkil et al . (2015) who added considerable morphological data to DNA, recovered Sesioidea as monophyletic, with Sesiidae, Castniidae and Brachodidae as constituent families, yet with low support values. Thus, although the monophyly of Castniidae is well supported, the systematic position of this family is unresolved.

Brachodidae are a small family of day-flying, rarely collected cossoid moths. Here, the Brachodidae fauna of Sub-Saharan Africa and the neighboring Arabian Peninsula is reviewed with special attention to the species of the subfamily Brachodinae. The origin of the African Brachodinae and their relationship to the Palaearctic genus Brachodes are discussed, and a Gondwanan origin of the family Brachodidae sensu stricto is proposed. A total of 34 brachodid species are considered in this study, most of which are figured. Two new genera, Archaeotychia gen. nov. (type species Atychia quiris Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) and Nothobrachodes gen. nov. (type species Atychia infanda Meyrick, 1920) are described. Furthermore, 12 species are described as new to science: Archaeotychia semicuprea sp. nov., Archaeotychia dicksoni sp. nov., Archaeotychia khoisanorum sp. nov., Archaeotychia krooni sp. nov., Archaeotychia dentata sp. nov., Phycodes nigeriana sp. nov., Nigilgia scoblei sp. nov., Nigilgia agassizi sp. nov., Nigilgia ruwenzoriensis sp. nov., Nigilgia megabella sp. nov., Nigilgia arcana sp. nov. and Nigilgia crocea sp. nov. Moreover, Atychia metaspila Meyrick, 1926 syn. nov. is established as a new synonym of Archaeotychia albiciliata (Walsingham, 1891) , and Atychia nycteropis Meyrick, 1920 syn. nov. as a new synonym of Nothobrachodes infanda (Meyrick, 1920). Atractoceros xanthoprocta (Meyrick, 1914) is transferred to the subfamily Phycodinae.

Brachodidae are a small family of fewer than 140 described species that are distributed worldwide except in North America. They reach their greatest diversity in the tropical regions of Asia and South America; however, many species occur in the Palaearctic region and in Australia, but these are restricted to a small number of genera. More than 40 species are known from the Oriental region and many more await description (Kallies 1998, 2000, 2004).