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Nest aggregations of mud dauber wasps increase substrate heterogeneity and provide suitable sites for colonization by other invertebrate species. The mud dauber wasp Sceliphron fuscum Klug, 1801 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) abundantly occurs throughout the Seychelles Archipelago, Republic of Seychelles. Here, we estimated the taxonomic richness of the hymenopteran assemblage associated with S. fuscum’s nest aggregations, using material collected from the Inner Seychelles in 2016. Furthermore, we examine available historical survey data in order to assess possible changes in this association over decades. We discovered that from 1936 to 1938, seven hymenopteran species were associated with the nest aggregations of S. fuscum on Mahé and Praslin islands, representing six native taxa and one invasive species. From the material collected in 2016, we found one native and three invasive hymenopteran species associated to S. fuscum nests. Our findings could indicate a replacement of native species associated with the mud dauber wasps’ nest aggregations by recently introduced alien taxa on the Seychelles Archipelago.

The bumble bee fauna of the Russian Arctic is rather poorly known. Kolguev Island, a remote insular territory in the Barents Sea, is one of the deficiently studied areas. In this study, material on Kolguev’s bumble bees is re-examined, phylogeographic data analysed, putative scenarios explaining the origin of the bumble bee fauna on the island discussed, and the biology and phenology of these insular populations described. Five bumble bee species, i.e., Bombus flavidus, B. lapponicus, B. jonellus, B. pyrrhopygus, and B. balteatus, were recorded on this island. All of these species are widespread throughout the Eurasian Arctic. Bumble bee populations on Kolguev Island are characterised by a low level of molecular divergence from mainland populations. Based on paleogeographic reconstructions and phylogeographic patterns, it is hypothesised that the bumble bees appeared on this island in the Early Holocene. The lack of rodents (lemmings and voles) sharply decreases the number of available nesting places for bumble bees on Kolguev Island.

The focus of this study is to summarize the data on the distribution and foraging preference of Bombus (Megabombus) consobrinus Dahlbom, 1832 in the European North of Russia. The range of B. consobrinus in this region mostly repeats the disjunctions of the range of Aconitum septentrionale that is also known in Scandinavia. In other regions of Northern Eurasia, the close relationship of B. consobrinus with Aconitum is not obvious. This bumblebee species may be regarded as oligolectic in Northern Europe and the European North of Russia. We assume the presence of a coadaptive relationship of this bumblebee species with A. septentrionale in this region that presumably have been caused by the complex history of B. consobrinus in the European North.

Recent multi-locus phylogenetic studies repeatedly showed that what was thought to be the Clouded Apollo butterfly Parnassius mnemosyne (Linnaeus, 1758) represents a cryptic species complex. This complex contains at least three distant species-level phylogenetic lineages. Here, we compile a set of morphology- and DNA-based evidences supporting the distinctiveness of two species in this group, i.e. P. mnemosyne s. str. and P. nebrodensis Turati, 1907 stat. rev. These species can be distinguished from each other based on a combination of diagnostic characters in the male genitalia structure, wing scale patterns, and the forewing venation. The species status of P. nebrodensis is supported based on unique nucleotide substitutions in the mitochondrial (COI, ND1, and ND5) and nuclear (Wg and EF-1a) genes. P. nebrodensis is endemic to the Western Mediterranean Region. This species shares a disjunctive range through the Pyrenees, Western and Central Alps, Apennines, and the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains on Sicily. Altogether 38 nominal taxa initially described as P. mnemosyne subspecies are considered here to be junior synonyms of P. nebrodensis. At first glance, P. nebrodensis can be assessed as an endangered species due to its restricted distribution, narrow range of habitats, and ongoing population decline. Isolated populations of this species scattered through mountain ranges need special management and conservation efforts.

This study (1) displays markings pattern of male and female specimens of Arctia tundrana from various parts of its broad range; (2) illustrates a paratype male specimen of this species with its genitalia and aedeagus; (3) presents a few additional occurrences of A. tundrana supplementing the data set published in our earlier paper (Bolotov et al. 2015); (4) provides an updated map of the species’ occurrences; and (5) discusses its imaginal phenology based on long-term occurrence data.

In this study, we examine a recent sample containing two hawk moth species (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from Praslin and Mahé, Seychelles. It was widely accepted that the hawk moth species Temnora peckoveri (Butler, 1876) has a disjunctive range covering Madagascar and the Inner Seychelles. However, the Seychelles population of what was thought to be Temnora peckoveri shares a set of diagnostic morphological differences from both this species and T. fumosa (Walker, 1856) in the male genitalia structure. In particular, it remotely resembles Temnora fumosa based on the structure of aedeagus but differs from T. fumosa and T. peckoveri with respect to the harpe shape. Based on this evidence, we describe Temnora fumosa seychellensis Bolotov & Spitsyn ssp. nov. as a subspecies with restricted range, being endemic to the Inner Seychelles. The range of this subspecies covers Praslin (first record), Mahé, Silhouette, La Digue, Cousine, and Denis. Additionally, we report on recent occurrences of Agrius convolvuli (Linnaeus, 1758) from Praslin (second record) and Mahé. The adult moths were recorded feeding on inflorescences of Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia Baker (Asparagaceae) for the first time. Finally, we present a complete list of Temnora fumosa seychellensis ssp. nov. and Agrius convolvuli occurrences from Seychelles.

Geothermal springs are known to harbor unusual assemblages of dragonflies and damselflies worldwide. A review of original records and the body of available literature revealed that 27 Odonata species were recorded from hot springs in Russia so far and that the successful larval development in geothermal environments was discovered for 17 species. Among them, four species exclusively inhabit hot springs, i.e. Mnais costalis, Anotogaster sieboldii, Orthetrum melania (Kunashir Island), and O. albistylum (Eastern Siberia). In Russia, these southern species are unable to develop beyond geothermally heated water bodies due to cold climate, and they exist as local geothermal populations there. Here, we report on several novel records of Odonata species from geothermal springs in eastern Russia. Four species were recorded on the Kunashir Island (Kurile Archipelago): Mnais costalis (adults), Anotogaster sieboldii (adults and larvae), Orthetrum melania (adults), and Sympetrum pedemontanum elatum (adults and larvae). Two species were found in the Kamchatka Peninsula, i.e. Libellula quadrimaculata (freshly emerged imago and exuvia) and Aeshna juncea (larvae). To explain the origin of isolated geothermal populations of Odonata, three alternative hypotheses can be proposed as follows: (1) pre-glacial relicts; (2) mid-Holocene relicts (since the Holocene Climate Optimum); and (3) recent (late Holocene) populations founded by long-distance dispersal events. These scenarios are yet to be tested by means of a molecular approach.

In this correspondence, we report on the field observations of puddling by butterflies on warm mineral water from hot springs in Northern Asia.

Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) is a widespread pest of citrus plants originating from the Oriental Region. Here, we report on the discovery of its non-native population recently established on Mahé, Seychelles. Papilio demoleus was probably accidentally introduced to Mahé a few years ago (first records in November 2016). Morphologically, the Seychelles population is identified as the subspecies Papilio demoleus malayanus Wallace, 1865 from Southeast Asia. It was one of the most abundant butterfly species at the southeastern edge of Mahé in January 2020. Our finding highlights that generalist butterfly species associated with agricultural plants are rapidly spreading throughout remote oceanic islands such as the Inner Seychelles.

The name nebrodensis Turati is shown to be unavailable and the first available name for the species is chosen by invoking the First Reviser Principle under the ICZN Code as Parnassius turatii Fruhstorfer, 1908. Rothschild was determined to be the first author to confer availability on the name nebrodensis by application of the Code.

Although migrant butterflies are rare (or sporadically seen) guests on the Arctic Ocean islands, there is a slowly growing dataset on repeated occurrences of these insects in insular tundra and polar deserts. Altogether six long-distance migrant butterfly species were found to cross wide marine barriers north of the Arctic Circle (66.56°N), i.e.Vanessa atalanta,V. cardui,Nymphalis antiopa,N. xanthomelas,Aporia crataegi, andPieris napi. Migrant individuals ofV. carduidiscovered on Svalbard (up to 78.27°N in 1978) reflect the farthest dispersal event of butterflies to the Arctic ever reported. Our record ofN. xanthomelasat the northern margin of Novaya Zemlya (76.95°N) represents the northernmost finding of this species globally, reflecting the world’s second farthest record of northern poleward immigration of butterflies. This occurrence coincides with an exceptionally warm summer season, when the third highest July and second highest August air temperature occurred (since global records began in 1880). Furthermore, the immigration into Novaya Zemlya coincides with a population explosion and massive expansion ofN. xanthomelasin Siberia in 2019–2020. Our air current reconstructions indicate that this species most likely immigrated into Novaya Zemlya from mainland regions situated south-southeast (Polar Urals, Yugorsky Peninsula, and western Yamal) and east (Taymyr) of the archipelago. Overall, our findings reveal that long-distance dispersal events of butterflies to the Arctic islands are always linked to massive expansions of the corresponding species in mainland areas.

Although the Odonata are common inhabitants of various extreme environments such as geothermal springs, brackish wetlands, mangroves, and volcanic lakes, the assemblages of this group associated with extreme habitats in Australasia are rather poorly known. Here, we combine museum collection data and published reports on Odonata from extreme habitats on Flores Island, Lesser Sunda Archipelago. The highly acidic Sano Nggoang Crater Lake (mean pH = 3.17) on Flores houses seven species as follows: Agriocnemis pygmaea, Xiphiagrion cyanomelas (Coenagrionidae), Neurothemis ramburii, Orthetrum pruinosum pruinosum, O. sabina, O. testaceum soembanum (Libellulidae), and Anax gibbosulus (Aeshnidae). A coastal marsh site with slightly brackish water on Flores harbors at least five dragonfly species as follows: Diplacodes trivialis, Neurothemis intermedia excelsa, N. terminata, Pantala flavescens, and Rhyothemis phyllis ixias (Libellulidae). The migratory dragonfly Pantala flavescens was a single species recorded on the waterless Kanawa Island near the western edge of Flores. Our findings suggest that extreme habitats in eastern Indonesia primarily colonized by widespread generalist Odonata species. Finally, an updated checklist of Odonata species recorded from Flores Island was compiled. Our survey of museum specimens recovered two species not found on existing species lists for Flores: Neurothemis intermedia excelsa and Pantala flavescens.

In this paper, we summarise material pertaining to the distribution and habitat preference of Bombus (Kallobombus) soroeensis (Fabricius, 1777) on the territory of Arkhangelsk Region. B.soroeensis is widely represented on the territory as nominative subspecies B.soroeensisssp.soroeensis, which is common mainly in Fennoscandia, the British Isles and Eastern Europe. The northern border of the species range in the Arkhangelsk Region is the lower reaches of the Mezen River, located in the transition zone between the northern taiga and the forest-tundra. This locality is probably one of the most northern records of this species in the northern part of the Russian Plain. In Eastern Fennoscandia, B.soroeensis is distributed far to the north, i.e., in the northern parts of Finland and Norway. In relation to the habitat preference, B.soroeensis in the study region belongs to the category of meadow species. This species is typical of different types of meadows and ruderal habitats. B.soroeensis is not typical with regards to the native taiga habitats, in most cases. This is similar to the situation on the territory of Finland, where this species is associated with open meadow habitats. Individuals of B.soroeensis have been recorded on a wide range of entomophilous plants, and the main examples are Rhinanthusminor, Epilobiumangustifolium, Cirsiumarvense, Scorzoneroidesautumnalis, Lotuscorniculatus.

Origins of the fauna in Iceland is controversial, although the majority of modern research supports the postglacial colonization of this island by terrestrial invertebrates rather than their long-term survival in glacial refugia. In this study, we use three bumblebee species as a model to test the hypothesis regarding possible cryptic refugia in Iceland and to evaluate a putative origin of recently introduced taxa.Bombusjonellusis thought to be a possible native Icelandic lineage, whereasB.lucorumandB.hortorumwere evidently introduced in the second half of the 20thcentury. These phylogeographic analyses reveal that the IcelandicBombusjonellusshares two COI lineages, one of which also occurs in populations on the British Isles and in mainland Europe, but a second lineage (BJ-02) has not been recorded anywhere. These results indicate that this species may have colonized Iceland two times and that the lineage BJ-02 may reflect a more ancient Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene founder event (e.g., from the British Isles). The Icelandic populations of bothBombuslucorumandB.hortorumshare the COI lineages that were recorded as widespread throughout Eurasia, from the European countries across Russia to China and Japan. The findings presented here highlight that the bumblebee fauna of Iceland comprises mainly widespread ubiquitous lineages that arrived via natural or human-mediated dispersal events from the British Isles or the mainland.

The High Arctic bumble bee fauna is rather poorly known, while a growing body of recent molecular research indicates that several Arctic species may represent endemic lineages with restricted ranges. Such local endemics are in need of special conservation efforts because of the increasing anthropogenic pressure and climate changes. Here, we re-examine the taxonomic and biogeographic affinities of bumble bees from Novaya Zemlya using historical samples and recently collected materials (1895–1925vs.2015–2017). Three bumble bee species inhabit the Yuzhny (Southern) Island and the southern edge of Severny (Northern) Island of this archipelago:BombusglacialisFriese, 1902,B.hyperboreusSchönherr, 1809, andB.pyrrhopygusFriese, 1902.Bombusglacialisshares three unique COI haplotypes that may indicate its long-term (pre-glacial) persistence on Novaya Zemlya. In contrast,BombushyperboreusandB.pyrrhopygusshare a rather low molecular divergence from mainland populations, with the same or closely related haplotypes as those from Arctic Siberia and Norway. A brief re-description ofBombuspyrrhopygusbased on the newly collected topotypes is presented. Habitats, foraging plants and life cycles of bumble bees on Novaya Zemlya are characterized, and possible causes of extremely low bumble bee abundance on the archipelago are discussed. The species-poor bumble bee fauna of Novaya Zemlya is compared with those in other areas throughout the Arctic. The mean bumble bee species richness on the Arctic Ocean islands is three times lower than that in the mainland Arctic areas (3.1vs.8.6 species per local fauna, respectively). General linear models (GLMs) indicate that this difference can be explained by specific environmental conditions of insular areas. Our findings highlight that the insularity is a significant factor sharply decreasing species richness in bumble bee assemblages on the Arctic Ocean archipelagoes through colder climate (lower summer temperatures), prevalence of harsh Arctic tundra landscapes with poor foraging resources, and in isolation from the mainland.

Bumblebee assemblages of ruderal habitats were studied in the Kola Peninsula in 2012. The number of species in the assemblages varies from 7 to 11. Of cryptic species Bombus sensu stricto in the Kola Peninsula only Bombus cryptarum was registered. The most abundant species in the study habitats are B. jonellus and B. cryptarum. Abundances of tundra species B. lapponicus, B. alpinus, B. balteatus are low in all localities. B. distinguendus and B. veteranus are southern immigrants in the region. Ruderal habitats in the Kola Peninsula are potentially important for bumblebee conservation.

The Seychelles archipelago is characterized by an exceptionally high level of endemism in certain taxa, including at least 275 endemic species of Lepidoptera (Legrand 1966; Gerlach & Matyot 2006; De Prins & De Prins 2015). Despite the fact that endemics are the main objects of conservation efforts, information regarding endemic Seychelles Lepidoptera is very poor, because the majority of them are known from a single or a few specimens (Legrand 1966; Gerlach and Matyot 2006; Bolotov et al. 2014, 2015). The emerald moth specimens are lacking in extensive samples obtained by earlier collectors (Fletcher 1910; Scott 1910; Fryer 1912). Further, two emerald moth species in the genus Thalassodes Guenee, 1858 have been reported from Seychelles, i.e. , the widespread T. quadraria Guenee, 1858 (Legrand 1966; Gerlach & Matyot 2006; De Prins & De Prins 2015) and the endemic T. antithetica Herbulot, 1962. The latter species is known from eight specimens, collected between 1959 and 1963 (Legrand 1966; Gerlach & Matyot 2006). Herbulot (1962) provided a very short description of this species without any illustration. The protologue consists of a description of some external characters, i.e., antennae, palpi and legs, as well as the pattern of markings, but the male and female genitalia are not described. As the main diagnostic features, Herbulot (1962) noted two specific characters in the male morphology, namely the hind tibia with a single pair of spurs and an exceptional development of the lateral processes (octavals) on the posterior margin of the eighth sternite.

The history of lepidopteran studies of the Inner Seychelles is about one hundred years old, and the data have been summarized recently in a comprehensive monograph (Gerlach & Matyot 2006). The largest granitic islands contain the greatest number of species—345 for Mahe and 288 for Silhouette—but the second largest, Praslin, has only 42 recorded species. A total of 17 Geometridae species occur in the granitic Seychelles. Among them are six species of Larentiinae with two endemics, including Episteira mouliniei Legrand, 1971, a unique Trichopterygini for these islands (Gerlach & Matyot 2006). This species was described based on a single female specimen in the genus Episteira Warren, 1899. The previously unknown male of the taxon is described herein.