Conistra politina ( Staudinger, 1888 )

Titov, Sergey V., Volynkin, Anton V., Gabdullina, Aliya U., Bolbotov, Gleb A. & Rakhimov, Ruslan D., 2024, Two new records of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) from the eastern Zaisan Depression (East Kazakhstan), Ecologica Montenegrina 77, pp. 161-168 : 166-168

Conistra politina ( Staudinger, 1888)

( Figs 5–10 )

Orrhodia ligula var. politina Staudinger, 1888 , Stettiner entomologische Zeitung, 49: 35 (Type locality: [ Uzbekistan] “ Margelan ”).

= Orrhodia ligula var. subspadiceana Staudinger, 1888 , Stettiner entomologische Zeitung, 49: 35 (Type locality (fixed by Hreblay (1992) through the lectotype designation): [Central Asia] “Tura”).

Material examined. 2 males, 5 females, 10.X.2023, East Kazakhstan, E Zaisan Depression, Bozaygyrkum Sands , 47°40'39.77''N 85°20'12.94''E, 518m, S. V. Titov leg. ; 6 males, 9 females, 20.X.2023, SE Kazakhstan, Zhetysu Region, Panfilov Distr., valley of Ili River , 510m, 43°57'23.5''N 79°39'11.3''E, Haloxylon desert / Populus thickets / swampy floodplain, S. V . Titov & R. D. Rakhimov leg. ; 1 female, 21.X.2023, SE Kazakhstan, Zhetysu Region, Panfilov Distr., valley of Koybyn River , 877m, 44°09'48.8''N 79°30'56.1''E, riverine woodland / clay hills, S. V . Titov & R. D. Rakhimov leg. ; 1 male, 17.IV.2014, SE Kazakhstan, Almaty Region, 14 km SE of Topar , sands, 360m, N44°55.332', E75°06.399', Volynkin A. V ., Titov S. V. & Knyazev S.A. leg. ; 1 male, 18.IV.2014, SE Kazakhstan, Almaty Region, 18 km NW of Bakanas, Ili River Valley , 380m, N44°54.396', E75°55.548', Volynkin A. V ., Titov S. V. & Knyazev S.A. leg.

Note. The lectotypes for politina (male) and subspadiceana (female) were designated by Hreblay (1992), who also illustrated their genital structures as drawings. The photographs of the genitalia of both sexes of this species are illustrated for the first time in the present paper ( Figs 9, 10 ).

Bionomics. The moths are nocturnal and are on wing in October and April with imagoes of both sexes overwintering. The preimaginal stages and food plants are unknown. The species occurs in river valleys in the natural zones of semi-deserts and deserts, and in most places was observed in or near the thickets of turanga trees ( Populus L. sect. Turanga Bunge). The collecting place in the eastern Zaisan Depression, the dune Bozaygyrkum Sands, has a mosaic vegetation cover. Groups of trees of Populus alba L. and Betula microphylla Bunge are hidden in depressions between dunes, where rainwater is retained for a long time. Patches of turanga thickets ( Populus diversifolia Schrenk ) are located separately on leveled areas at the foot of the dunes, almost without admixture of other tree and shrub species. The dominance of Calligonum rubicundum Bunge and Hippophae rhamnoides L. is also mosaic. Shrub vegetation occupies the slopes of the dunes and in places forms continuous thickets. Halimodendron halodendron (Pall.) Schneid. , Salix wilhelmsiana M. Bieb. , Ribes saxatile Pall. , and Lonicera tatarica L. are confined to depressions between the dunes and some areas along the road where precipitation accumulates.

Distribution. Uzbekistan ( Staudinger 1888), Southeast and East Kazakhstan ( Lehmann et al. 1998; present study). The new finding in the eastern Zaisan Depression is the north-easternmost known locality of the species.

Acknowledgements

Sergey Titov would like to express his sincere thanks to Timur N. Smagulov, director of Institute of Archaeological Research, Margulan University (Pavlodar, Kazakhstan), for organising the collecting trip in the eastern Zaisan Depression in October 2023.

The work of Sergey Titov was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Scientific Program “Assessment of biological resources of the Kazakh part of the transboundary Irtysh basin in the context of climate change” (BR18574062). Anton Volynkin, Aliya Gabdullina, Gleb Bolbotov and Ruslan Rakhimov, while performing this work, received no specific grant from any funding agencies.

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Figures

Figures 5–10. Conistra politina. 3–8, adults, the specimens are deposited in CAV; 9, male genitalia, East Kazakhstan Bozaygyrkum Sands, slide AV7478; 10, female genitalia, same locality, slide AV7479.