Mastodawn

Today I found six observations in #iNaturalist that include what may well be the only photos ever taken of live many-plume #moths in the genus #Triscaedecia.

This is a rarely recorded genus for which I accidentally became co-author on a 2019 global revision: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332013222

There are six named species, four first described in the 2019 paper.

The new records include the second known individual of Triscaedecia svetlanae, extending its range from mainland #Malaysia to #Sabah in #Borneo, and the first (five) records of the genus from #Australia (far north #Queensland). The latter are probably Triscaedecia septemdactyla, a species previously recorded from New Guinea and the Bismarck Islands. I need to check the national #insect #collection here in #Canberra to see if there are any existing specimens in the unsorted material.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=781080

#Lepidoptera #Alucitidae #entomology #biodiversity

Axel Steiner Oct 14, 2024

Geißblattgeistchen (Alucita hexadactyla) sind an den großen Palpen und eigentümlichen Flügeln (starre Stacheln mit federartigen Borsten) zu erkennen. Ihre Raupen fressen Heckenkirsche.

#Schmetterlinge #artenvielfalt #lepidoptera #insects #insekten #natur #nature #Alucitidae

Donald Hobern Feb 29, 2024

New paper today describes nine new many-plume #moth #species:

https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1193.111544

With Alucita megaphimus also restored from synonymy, this increases the number of species described globally for the family from 259 to 269. I've updated the global catalogue:

https://alucitoidea.hobern.net/catalogue.php

The data are also now in #ChecklistBank ready to update #CatalogurOfLife (and then @gbif) next month:

https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/2207/taxon/6

#Lepidoptera #Alucitidae #taxonomy #entomology

Magnifying the hotspot: descriptions of nine new species of many-plumed moths (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae), with an identification key to all species known from Cameroon

This study confirms Mount Cameroon as an unprecedented hotspot for the diversity of many-plumed moths, with the discovery and description of nine new species: Alucita fako Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita pyrczi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita sroczki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita potockyi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita sedlaceki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita tonda Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita erzayi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita sokolovi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., and Alucita hirsuta Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. Additionally, four additional species are reported from the Mount Cameroon area as new for the country: Alucita agassizi, Alucita dohertyi, Alucita plumigera, and Alucita rhaptica. Of the 89 Alucitidae known from the Afrotropics, the studied area hosts 36 species, most of which are endemic to the area. This unprecedented level of diversity and endemism within this lepidopteran family highlights Mount Cameroon’s significance as a stronghold for specialised insect taxa. Efficient conservation efforts are necessary to protect these ecosystems and their associated unique microlepidopteran diversity.

ZooKeys