Hydria cervinalis subsp. taurica Stadie & Fiebig & Rajaei 2022, ssp. n.
Creators: name: Stadie, Dirk
name: Fiebig, Ralf
name: Rajaei, Hossein
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Hydria
Hydria cervinalis
Hydria cervinalis taurica

description: Hydria cervinalis taurica ssp. n.
(Figs 9–10, 27, 41, Map 1)
Holotype ♂ Türkei, Prov [vince] Antalya, Civizli W [est] Seydisehir, 17.IV.2001 1200m, leg[it] Bernd Schacht, DS 120/2012, BC Lep DS 0018, coll. PCBS, coll. MNHU.
Paratypes. 1 ♂, Türkei, Prov [vince] Antalya, Civizli W[est] Seydisehir, 17.IV.2001 1200m, leg[it] Bernd Schacht, DS 122/2012, BC Lep DS 0019; 2 ♀ Türkei, Prov [vince] Antalya, Civizli W[est] Seydisehir, 17.IV.2001 1200m, leg[it] Bernd Schacht, coll. PCBS, gen. prep DS 121/2012, coll. PCBS, now in coll. MNHU.
Description. (Figs 9–10) Large subspecies with a wingspan in males 37–39 mm, in females 37–40 mm. Ground colour of forewing on average somewhat lighter than in typical Hydria cervinalis cervinalis. Basal half of terminal area lightened, ochre-brown, well contrasting with the postmedian. Transverse lines faint or absent. Underside of the wings dull grey-brown. Discal spots and postmedian fascia distinct, dark grey. The postmedian running more or less straight towards costa. At vein R5 somewhat curved basally up to the costa, reaching the latter in an acute or right angle. Transverse lines indistinct or absent.
Male and female genitalia. See Diagnose part below.
Diagnosis. Hydria cervinalis taurica ssp. n. is very similar to the nominate subspecies in external appearance. However, on forewing upper side the terminal area is remarkably lightened towards postmedian fascia and transverse lines are more or less absent. On wing underside in the new subspecies the transverse lines, except the postmedian fascia, are nearly absent. The latter is running usually straighter than in the nominate subspecies. Male genitalia are very similar to the nominate subspecies, with shorter apical part of uncus and broader valva in ssp. taurica. In addition, in the new subspecies juxta is less elongated, its median fork is more prominent (see Figs 26, 27) compared to the nominate subspecies. Female genitalia of new subspecies are similar to that of nominate subspecies, but the ductus bursae is narrower and slightly longer than in nominate subspecies (Figs 40, 41).
Genetics. The single sequenced barcode of the new subspecies (GWOTL494-13) is clustered with H. cervinalis from Germany and Italy with 2.63% minimum genetic distance.
Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Turkey.
Habitat. The new subspecies inhabits sub-continental summer-green open deciduous forests dominated by Quercus cerris L., open forest and rocky slopes at the continental escarpments of the Middle Taurus Mountains between 1,000 –1,700 m (Fig. 72).
Phenology. Adults of ssp. taurica wereobserved mid-May (very limited data).
Biology. Most probably the larvae of the new subspecies feed also on one of the Turkish Berberis species (more investigation needed).
Remarks. It is to expect that the taxon merits species rank by zoogeographic reasons. The material is very scarce. Further investigation is needed to solve this question.
description: Published as part of Stadie, Dirk, Fiebig, Ralf & Rajaei, Hossein, 2022, Taxonomic review of the genus Hydria H, 1822 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) in the Middle East, with description of three new species and one new subspecies, pp. 501-530 in Zootaxa 5092 (5) on pages 508-509, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5092.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5896491