Spiris striata ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Macià, Ramon, Mally, Richard, Ylla, Josep, Gastón, Javier & Huertas, Manuel, 2019, Integrative revision of the Iberian species of Coscinia Hübner, [1819] sensu lato and Spiris Hübner, [1819], (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae), Zootaxa 4615 (3), pp. 401-449 : 425-426

Spiris striata ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Original combination: Phalaena Bombyx striata Linnaeus, 1758 Systema Naturae (Edn 10) 1, 502

LT. Germany

= Bombyx melanoptera Brahm, 1791 .

= Coscinia striata hospitali Marten, 1948 .

Material studied. 1♂ El Masegar, Moscardón (Teruel), 1450 m. 30TXK26, 22.VII.2015, R. Macià leg. ; 2♂♂ Coll d´Hueres , Collsuspina (Barcelona), 936 m, 31TDG32, 8.IX.2004, R. Macià leg. ; 1♂ Caneján , Val d´Aran (Lleida), 940 m, 31TCH14, 7.VII.2016, R. Macià leg. ; 1♂ Villabasil (Burgos) 735 m, 29.VII.1992, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 2♂♂ El Cerro, Gredilla la Polera (Burgos), 939 m, 30TVN40, 13. VI.2011, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 2♀♀ El Cerro, Gredilla la Polera (Burgos), 939 m, 30TVN40, 13. VI.2011, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 1♂ Paterna del Madera (Al- bacete), 1300 m, 4. VI.1997, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 1♀ Candelario (Salamanca), 10. VI.2001, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 1♂ Candelario (Salamanca), 28.VII.2001, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 2♂♂ f. hospitali, Sierra Nevada ( Granada) 2800 m, 12.VII.1991, R. Macià leg. ; 1♂, 1♀ Abejar (Sória), 11.VII.1995, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg. ; 2♂♂, 1♀ Col de Menée , Isère ( France), 1457 m, 14.VII.1994, R. Macià & J. Ylla leg.

Diagnosis. Imagines of S. striata are indistinguishable from those of S. slovenica on external characters. In the male genitalia of S. striata , the cucullus is straight, with the ventral edge concave and the dorsal edge slightly convex, the large ventral thorn on the tip of the cucullus is short and points in a distoventral direction; clavus narrowly conical, with a broad triangular basal half and a tubular, evenly broad apical half ending in a rounded tip with small spines.

Description. Imago ( Figs 19–22 ). Average wingspan 33.46 mm (n = 15; 27–42 mm.). Wing maculation as described for the genus. The pattern of black streaks in forewings of the male is hardly ever present in females. There are some examples of melanic forms with the upperside of the hindwing black, known as f. melanoptera ( Ylla et al. 2010) .

Genitalia ( Fig. 37 ). Male genitalia with short uncus, the base with several long simple setae, central part somewhat constricted, apex ending in a blunt broad edge; tegumen and vinculum broad, rounded semi-circular; juxta large, oval, with a central longitudinal strip of weaker sclerotisation; valvae strongly sclerotized, elongate rectangular, straight and distally slightly bent ventrad, dorsal apical thorn most prominent, pointing distad, ventral apical thorn short with broad base; dorsal base of valva with prominent dorsally directed elongate conical clavus with an evenly rounded spiny tip. Female genitalia as for the genus. It is not possible distinguish females of S. striata and S. slovenica on genitalia.

Immature stages ( Fig. 50 ). Last instar larvae measure 20–23 mm in length. Head capsule dark brown. Dark dorsal area extending down to the spiracles and to a narrow orange lateral line; lateral sides whitish with black spots from the spiracle to verruca L2; the area between L2 and L3 dark grey; ventral surface light brown; verruca D1, D2, SD1 dark; L1, L2, L3 whitish; thoracic legs with a light brown femur, tibia, tarsus and dark brown nail; 12 to 13 large nails on the abdominal prolegs. Pupa dark reddish brown; pupa of male erect, that of female slightly tilted ventrad; antennae not touching distally, tips of pterothecae touching broadly in females, less so in males.

Molecular data. Intraspecific uncorrected p-distances of the COI Barcode sequences are 0–1.51%, with a mean of 0.20% (n = 17). The nearest interspecific distance is 3.89% to S. slovenica . The p-distances to S. bipunctata are 4.75–5.83% (see also Table 3 ). GenBank accession numbers of the four partial COI sequences that are sequenced in this study are MH688116 – MH688119 (see also Table 2 ); the other 13 Barcodes are publicly available on the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). In BOLD, S. striata is represented by BIN AAJ5576.

Uncorrected p-distances of S. striata wingless sequences are 0–0.30% (n = 3). The 21 st amino acid in the wingless sequence differs in the third codon position for one of the three specimens by having GTC instead of GTT; both codons code for Valin. The only available wingless sequence for S. bipunctata is identical to the S. striata wingless allele with the GTC codon. Comparison with wingless sequences of S. slovenica was not possible. GenBank accession numbers of the three partial wingless sequences are MH688153 – MH688155 .

In the phylogenetic results, S. striata is strongly supported as monophyletic (1.00 PP, 100% BS), and is poorly supported sister (59% BS, PP<0.90) to the congeneric S. slovenica . Together, both species form the sister clade to S. bipunctata , a relationship that is well-supported in both Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood analyses (1.00 PP, 99% BS). Together with Coscinia and Sagarriella , Spiris forms an (unsupported) tritomy in the consensus phylogram ( Fig. 62 ).

Biology. Bivoltine at low altitudes, flying in a first generation from May to June and in a second one from August to September. At higher altitudes, the species is univoltine, flying from mid-June to August. It prefers dry and sunny meadows but can occur in almost any kind of biotope between sea level and 2500 m above sea level. Both sexes are active both by day and at night and are attracted to artificial light. Larvae feed on a great variety of plant species including Calluna , Festuca , Cichorium , Hieracium , Cytisus , Artemisia , Lamium , Prunus , Genista , Urtica , Sarothamnus , Galium , Salvia , Plantago , Fraxinus , Rumex and Oxalis ( Ylla et al. 2010) .

Distribution. ( Fig. 59 ) Present in most of Europe and widespread in large areas, absent on the Atlantic coast of southern Spain and Portugal, in the British Isles and the Baltic areas. Outside Europe, it is present in Asia Minor, East and West Turkestan, Siberia (Yakutia, Transbaikalia) and in the Chinese Altai at the Far East of Russia ( Witt & Ronkay 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 37. S. striata, male and female genitalia, gen. prep. 5724JG m. Collsuspina, Barcelona, (Spain), 5706JG f. Candelario, Salamanca, (Spain).

FIGURE 50. Immature state Spiris striata (picture MH).

FIGURE 59. Distribution map of S. striata.

FIGURE 62. Phylogenetic tree (General Time Reversible model + Gamma distribution) obtained from Bayesian analysis of combined COI Barcode and wingless gene data of the Arctiinae specimens studied; numbers above branches are Posterior Probabilities ≥ 0.90, numbers below branches are Bootstrap values obtained from 1,000 Bootstrap replicates of a Maximum Likelihood analysis conducted with RaxML. Within the C. cribraria clade, the subspecies C. c. benderi, C. c. rippertii and C. c. ibicenca are marked in slightly darker green. The black vertical bars on the right mark BOLD BINs; the specimens of BIN ACE7017 are nested within BIN AAD9042. The scale bar (upper left) represents substitutions per nucleotide position.

FIGURES 19–28. 19. S. striata, male, Paterna del Madera, Albacete, (Spain) (coll. RMV); 20. S. striata, female, El Cerro, Gredilla la Polera, Burgos, (Spain) (coll. RMV); 21. S striata f. melanoptera, male, Loma del Rey, Quintanilla Sobresierra, Burgos, (Spain) (coll. RMV); 22. El Cerro, Gredilla la Polera, Burgos, (Spain) (coll. RMV); 23. S. slovenica, male, Crni Kal, Petrinje, (Slovenia) (coll. RMV); 24. S. slovenica, female, Crni Kal, Petrinje, (Slovenia) (coll. RMV); 25. S. Slovenica f. melanoptera, male, Goriski Kras, Kostanjevica, (Slovenia) (coll. RMV); 26. S. Slovenica f. melanoptera, female, Goriski Kras, Kostanjevica, (Slovenia) (coll. RMV); 27. L. bifasciata, male, Val d´Ese, Corse, (France) (coll. RMV); 28. L. bifasciata, female, Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, (Italy) (coll. RMV).