Epirrita autumnata (Borkhausen, 1794)

Beljaev, Evgeniy A., Vasilenko, Sergey V., Dubatolov, Vladimir V. & Zinchenko, Vadim K., 2024, First report on late autumn geometer moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) from Kunashir Island, Russia (Southern Kurils), Amurian Zoological Journal XVI (4), pp. 979-995 : 989-990

Epirrita autumnata (Borkhausen, 1794)

Material. Andreevskii Cordon , at light, 16–30.10. – 1– 20.11.2023 (every night) – 96♂, 25♀ , + numerous VO; ibid., plateau, in light trap: 23– 24.10.2023 – 1♂ , 23– 24.10.2023 – 11♂; Andreevskii Cordon , mixed forest on the high right bank of the Andreevka river, in light trap, 26– 27.10.2023 – 1♂ ; Lesnaya river , coniferous forest, 22.10.2023 – 1♂ ; Andreevskii Cordon , at bait traps, 23.10.2023 – 2♂ + VO; ibid., at bait traps, 5.11.2023 – 1♀ , 10.11.2023 – 1♂ ; ibid., plateau, alder forest, at bait traps, 10.11.2023 – 7♂ ; ibid., plateau, birch forest, in bottle: 21– 22.10.2023 – 2♂ , 22– 23.10.2023 – 2♂, 23– 24.10.2023 – 2♂, 24– 25.10.2023 – 5♂, 28– 29.10.2023 – 1♂, 29– 30.10.2023 – 1♂, 3– 4.11.2023 – 1♂ (Zinchenko); ibid., plateau, spruce forest, in bottle, 7– 8.11.2023 – 1♂ (Zinchenko) ; mixed forest on the high right bank of the Andreevka river , in bottle, 7– 8.11.2023 – 2♂ (Zinchenko) ; Kaldernyi Cordon : at light – 30– 31.10.2023 – 4♂ , in light trap – 30♂, 35♀; ibid., 31.10– 1.11.2023 –>50 ind.; surroundings of Kaldernyi Cordon , road, in light trap, 30– 31.10.2023 – 4♂ ; ibid., at bait traps, 31.10– 1.11.2023 – 3♂ (Zinchenko) ; Kaldernyi Cordon , at bait traps, 30– 31.10.2023 – 1♂ .

Distribution. Russia (European part, N Caucasus, Urals, West Siberia, South Siberia, Jakutia, RFE: Magadan Obl., Kamchatka Pen., Amur Obl., Jewish A.O., Khabarovsk Kr., Primorsky Kr., Sakhalin, S Kurils — Urup, Iturup and Kunashir); Europe, Turkey, Transcaucasia, N Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China (E Inner Mongolia), South Korea, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu),?North America.

Remarks. In East Asia, the subspecies E. autumnata autumnus ( Bryk, 1942) , described from Iturup ( Bryk 1942), is distributed. The investigation of this species in 2023 reveals its long flight period on Kunashir, from mid-October up to the second half of November. In Japan, it appears in October ( Nakajima, Yazaki 2011). In the same-latitude continental part of the RFE, the moths are observed from the mid-September to mid-October, in mountains from early September ( Beljaev 1996). The larvae feed on various trees and shrubs, with a preference for species of Betulaceae and Salicaceae .

* Operophtera brunnea Nakajima, 1991 (= Operophtera variabilis Nakajima, 1991 ) ( Figs 3 H , 4 G, 4 H )

Material. Kaldernyi Cordon , at light, 30– 31.10.2023 – 1♂ , 31.10– 1.11.2023 – 1♂; surroundings of Kaldernyi Cordon , road, in light trap, 30– 31.10.2023 – 1♂ ; Andreevskii Cordon , 3– 23.11.2023 – 270♂ ; ibid., road on a slope, alder forest, 5.11.2023 – 1♂ , 7.11.2023 – 1♂ , 10.11.2023 – 2♂, 13.11.2023 – 1♂; 21.11.2023 – 4♂; ibid., plateau, distant forest, in light trap:, 8– 9.11.2023 – 7♂ , 12– 13.11.2023 – 7♂, 16– 17.11.2023 – 6♂; 18– 19.11.2023 – 2♂; ibid., plateau, nearby mixed forest, at night: 13.11.2023 – 24♂ , 18.11.2023 – 14 ♂ , 19.11.2023 – 3♂, 21.11.2023 – 7♂ (Zinchenko); ibid., 22.11.2023 – 21♂ (Dubatolov, Zinchenko) ; ibid., plateau, nearby birch forest, in light trap, 20– 21.11.2023 – 6♂ ; mixed forest on the high right bank of the Andreevka river , in light trap, 5– 6.11.2023 – 1♂ ; ibid., at night, manual collection: 13.11.2023 – 15♂ (Zinchenko) , 14.11.2023 – 1♂ (Dubatolov) , 15.11.2023 – 22♂ (Dubatolov, Zinchenko); Andreevskii Cordon , in the mixed forest, on bark near bait traps, 10.11.2023 (Dubatolov) – 2♂ ; Sernovodka river , 8.11.2023 (Zinchenko) – 1♂ ; Yuzhno-Kurilsk , office of the Kurilsky Nature Reserve, in a spider's web, 24.11.2023 – 1♂ .

Distribution. Russia (S Amur Obl., Jewish A.O., S Khabarovsk Kr., Primorsky Kr., Sakhalin, S Kurils – Kunashir); Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Izu Oshima, Shikoku, Kyushu), South Korea, China (Northeast, Central and Taiwan Island).

Remarks. The species is newly recorded for the Kuril Islands. The Kunashir population belongs to the nominative Japanese subspecies O. brunnea brunnea , also found on Sakhalin. On Kunashir, the moths were observed from the end of October up to the end of November. In Japan, the species is widespread across the country, from the plains to the lower subalpine zone, with moths appearing from late November to mid-February depending on the locality ( Nakajima, Yazaki 2011). On the continental part of the RFE, the moths are observed from the beginning of October to the beginning of November ( Beljaev 1996). The larvae feed on various leaved woody plants. It should be noted that while the synonymy of O, brunnea and O, variabilis was reasonably proposed by Nakajima back in 2010, it has not yet been adopted by major biodiversity and taxonomy databases, where the species are still listed as separate ( Rajaei et al. 2022; Operophtera variabilis … 2024; Taxonomy browser … 2024; Niwakagamania et al. 2024).

Figures

Fig. 3. Geometrid moths (Geomtridae) from Kunashir Island: A — Erannis golda, male; B — Erannis jacobsoni, male; C — Alsophila inouei, male; D — Alsophila japonensis, male; E — Inurois asahinai, male; F — Inurois fumosa, male; G — Inurois punctigera, male; H — Operophtera brunnea, male; I — Operophtera relegata, male; J — Eupithecia scribai, female; K — Eupithecia daemionata, female. Scale bar: 10 mm

Fig. 4. Geometrid moths (Geomtridae) from Kunashir Island in nature: A — Erannis golda, male; B — Larerannis orthogrammaria, male; C — Alsophila japonensis, male; D, E — Inurois asahinai: D — male, E — female; F — Inurois fumosa, male; G, H — Operophtera brunnea, males; I — Operophtera relegata, male. A–C, E, G–I — photos by V. V. Dubatolov; D, F — photos by S. Yu. Stefanov Рис. 4. ПяΑеницы (Geomtridae) с острова Кунашир в прироΑе: A — Erannis golda, самец; B — Larerannis orthogrammaria, самец; C — Alsophila japonensis, самец; D, E — Inurois asahinai: D — самец, E — самка; F — Inurois fumosa, самец; G, H — Operophtera brunnea, самец; I — Operophtera relegata, самец. A–C, E, G–I — ‰отогра‰ии В. В. ΔубатоΛова; D, F — ‰отогра‰ии С. Ю. Сте‰анова