Dodia sikhotensis Tshistjakov 1988
Creators: name: Koshkin, Evgeny S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Erebidae
Dodia
Dodia sikhotensis

description: Dodia sikhotensis Tshistjakov, 1988
(Figs 2K, L, 3F, G)
Dodia kononenkoi sikhotensis Tshistjakov, 1988: 636, fig. 3. Holotype ♂ (ZISP). Type locality: [Russia], Primorsky Krai, Mount Golets, 1450 m.
Material examined. Paratypes: 2 ♂, [USSR], Primorsky Krai, Chuguevsky district, Tsamo-Dynza [Golets] Mountain, 1450 m, goltsy and green moss spruce forest, southern slope, 15.VII.1972, Vasyurin leg. (FSCEATB) (Figs 2L, 3F). Other material: 1 ♂, Primorye Territory, Oblachnaya Mt., 1700 m, 2.VIII.1993, Yu. A. Tshistjakov leg. (FSCEATB); 6 ♂, Russia, Primorsky Krai, border between Chuguevsky and Olginsky districts, Snezhnaya Mountain, 43°43’53” N, 134°25’36” E, 1450 m, mountain tundra, in light trap, 07.VII.2013, Evgeny A. Beljaev leg. (EKC).
Diagnosis. Dodia sikhotensis has almost uniformly colored brownish-gray wings and body, which are usually slightly lighter than those of D. kononenkoi and D. transbaikalensis. Some specimens may have shadows on the forewings that are slightly different from the ground color (Figs 2K, L). Upper distal process of valva very broad, several times wider than lower one; lower process is small, triangular in shape. As in D. transbaikalensis, the notch between the processes is wide and shallow. Aedeagus thick, almost straight, widened at apex. Vesica short, broad, sac-shaped, with small apical diverticulum. At the base and apex of the vesica there are two elongated perpendicular patches of densely placed spicular cornuti. Several small cornuti are located on the apical diverticulum and between the patches (Figs 3F, G).
Distribution. Southern and Middle Sikhote-Alin Mountains (Primorsky Krai, Russia). Finds are known from the Golets, Lysaya Benevskaya, Oblachnaya, and Snezhnaya Mountains, and from Zimoveyny Klyuch in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve (Tshistjakov 1988, 1994) (Fig. 6).
Ecology. Occurs in spruce forests at the upper limit of the forest belt, dwarf pine forests (Pinus pumila (Parl.) Regel) and mountain tundra up to 1700 m altitude in the southern part of the Sikhote-Alin range. In the north, in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, moths are collected in mountain coniferous broadleaf forests. Flight period from late June to early August. Adults are active both at night and during the day. Larval biology and host plants are unknown (Tshistjakov 1988, 1994).
Notes. This taxon was described as a subspecies of the Holarctic species Dodia kononenkoi. Subsequently, in Dubatolov’s paper it was proposed to provisionally consider it as a species before studying the everted vesica: «the specific status is provisional only: unfortunately, while preparation of the description the vesica was not everted and it is impossible to study its structure» (Dubatolov 2010). The structure of the genitalia (including the vesica) and the isolation from other populations confirm the species status of D. sikhotensis. Molecular genetic studies of this taxon are needed for definitive conclusions.
Currently, two male paratypes of Dodia kononenkoi sikhotensis Tshistjakov, 1988, collected in Tsamo-Dynza Mountain, are kept in the FSCEATB collection without appropriate labels (Fig. 2L). In the original description of this taxon, Tsamo-Dynza Mountain is given as Golets Mountain, to which it was renamed in 1972. These two males were provided by me with red labels with the text « PARATYPUS ♂ / Dodia kononenkoi sikhotensis Tshistjakov, 1988 / E.S. Koshkin des., 2024».
Species that do not form a natural species group
description: Published as part of Koshkin, Evgeny S., 2024, A review of the genus Dodia Dyar, 1901 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae) with description of a new remarkable species from the Russian Far East, pp. 53-72 in Zootaxa 5458 (1) on page 63, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5458.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/11348236