Dodia albertae Dyar, 1901

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, Zootaxa 5458 (1), pp. 53-72 : 58

Dodia albertae Dyar, 1901

( Figs 2E, F , 5D )

Dodia albertae Dyar, 1901: 85 . Lectotype (designated by Tshistjakov & Lafontaine 1984): ♂ (USNM). Type locality: Calgary, Alberta, [ Canada], head of Pine Creek.

Hypocrita atra A. Bang-Haas, 1912: 109 . Lectotype (designated by Tshistjakov & Lafontaine 1984): ♂ (ZMHB). Type locality: Arasagun-gol (Sajan) [Sayan Mountain range, Mongolia].

Hyperborea kozhantshikovi Sheljuzhko, 1918: 104 . Lectotype (designated by Tshistjakov & Lafontaine 1984): ♂ (ZISP). Type locality: «in montes Dzhugdzhuz [Dzhugdzhur], ad flum. Dzhelinda» [this locality in Southern Yakutia: Uchur River Basin, Stanovoy Range ( Novomodnyi & Fonova 2010)].

Material examined. 1 ♂, [USSR], Magadan surroundings, Magadanka River , 12.VII.1959 ( FSCEATB) ; 3♂,[USSR], Magadan Oblast’, Stokovyi village, 18 km from Kulu , cedar shrub, 15.VII.1980, leg. Kononenko ( FSCEATB) ; 1 ♂, [USSR], Magadan Oblast’ , research station «Aborigen», sphagnum bog, 15.VI.1982 ( FSCEATB) ; 13 ♂, 1 ♀, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Verkhnebureinsky district, Bureinsky Nature Reserve, Dusse-Alin Range , headwaters of the Pravaya Bureya River , Novyi Medvezhii cordon, 52°07’56” N, 134°17’30” E, 877 m, 25.VI–4.VII.2016, leg. Evgeny S. Koshkin ( EKC) ; 3 ♂, 1 ♀, same locality and collector, but 3–6.VII.2018 ( EKC) ; 1 ♂, same locality and collector, but 23.VI.2020 ( EKC) ; 1 ♂, same locality and collector, but 9.VII.2020 ( EKC) .

Diagnosis. Externally similar to Dodia tarandus and D. verticalis . It differs from D. tarandus in the coloration of the basal and antemedial areas of the forewing, which are never paler than the outer half of the wing ( Figs 2E, F ); male valva apex with two short, blunt or weakly pointed processes; juxta wider than long; everted vesica about as long as aedeagus ( Fig. 5D ) ( Schmidt & Macaulay 2009). It is distinguished from D. verticalis by oblique transverse light bands on the forewings. Among the Asian species of the genus Dodia , only D. zhenya sp. n. is somewhat similar to D. albertae , differing from it in the character of the wing pattern and the structure of the male genitalia (see diagnosis of D. zhenya sp. n.).

Distribution. Holarctic boreal species. In Eurasia it is distributed in the Asian part of Russia, where it is found in the Polar Urals, Siberia (Southern Taymyr, Altai, Transbaikalye, Yakutia) and the Far East (north of the Amur Oblast’, northern and central parts of the Khabarovsk Krai, Magadan Oblast’) ( Tshistjakov & Lafontaine 1984; Tshistjakov 1988; Dubatolov 2010; Šumpich et al. 2020). Finds from northern Mongolia are also known ( Tshistjakov 1988). In North America it is widespread from Alaska and the Yukon eastward to Labrador and central Quebec ( Tshistjakov & Lafontaine 1984; Tshistjakov 1988; Schmidt & Macaulay 2009).

Ecology. Inhabits a wide range of boreal habitats, such as mountain larch forests, sphagnum bogs, screes in the upper part of the forest belt, wet subarctic and subalpine tundra. Flight period from mid-June to mid-July. Moths are active both day and nighttime. In the southeastern part of the species’ range in Asia (Dusse-Alin Range), males were mostly active at night and well attracted to different light sources; females flew only during the day. The life cycle is probably two years. In the Dusse-Alin Range, adults are recorded only in even years. Larval biology and host plants are not known. The female lays several dozen golden-orange, shiny eggs in a single layer. Under laboratory conditions, the emerging larvae were offered Taraxacum leaves, which they reluctantly ate, and by the end of the first instar, all had died.

Taxonomic notes. Considering the high variability in size, wing coloration and structure of the apical part of the valva throughout the range of the species, it does not seem expedient to distinguish the subspecies Dodia albertae atra , which some authors have given for Siberia and the Far East ( Dubatolov 2010, 2019). Minimal differences (about 0–0.2%) in p-distance in the mtDNA barcoding region (COI) between specimens from different localities in the Far East and North America also support this (BOLD; Table 2 ). Therefore, we agree with the position of the researchers who consider D. a. atra Bang-Haas, 1912 as a synonym of D. a. albertae Dyar, 1901 ( Tshistjakov & Lafontaine 1984; Tshistjakov 1988; Schmidt & Macaulay 2009).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dodia spp., adults, habitus. A—D. diaphana, ♂, Russia, Khabarovsk Krai, Dusse-Alin Range, 52°07’56” N, 134°17’30” E, 4.VII.2020 (EKC); B—D. diaphana arctica, paratype ♂, Russia, Magadan Oblast’, 18 km from Kulu, 11.VII.1980 (FSCEATB); C—D. diaphana, ♂, Russia, Buryatia, Mondy, Khulugaisha Mountain, 7.VII.1984 (FSCEATB); D—D. diaphana, ♀, same data as A but 2.VII.2016 (EKC); E—D. albertae, ♀, same data as A but 22.VI.2020 (EKC); F—D. albertae, ♂, same data as A but 2.VII.2016; G—D. transbaikalensis, ♂, Russia, Buryatia, near Mondy, 19–30.VI.2011 (EKC); H—D. sazonovi, ♂, Russia, Altai, NE Aktash vill., 7–12.VI.2022 (EKC); I—D. kononenkoi, ♂, Russia, East Yakutia, Suntar-Khayata Range, headwaters of the Vostochnaya Khandyga River, 18.VI.1991 (ABC); J—D. kononenkoi, paratype ♂, Russia, Magadan Oblast’, Paren’ River, 30.VI.1972 (FSCEATB); K—D. sikhotensis, ♂, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Snezhnaya Mountain, 7.VII.2013 (EKC); L—D. sikhotensis, paratype ♂, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Tsamo-Dynza [Golets] Mountain, 15.VII.1972 (FSCEATB). (Photos by Evgeny Koshkin).

FIGURE 5. Male genitalia of Dodia spp.: A—D. zhenya sp. n., holotype; B—D. zhenya sp. n., paratype, Khabarovsk Krai, Dusse-Alin Range; C—D. zhenya sp. n., paratype, Khabarovsk Krai, northern part of Bureinsky Range; D—D. albertae, Khabarovsk Krai, Dusse-Alin Range (also shown is the apex of the left valva of another male from the same locality).Aedeagus shown in different projections. (Photos by Evgeny Koshkin).