Eulithis achatinellaria

Eulithis achatinellaria (Oberthür)

(Fig. 35)

Eulithis achatinellaria: Beljaev & Mironov 2019: 264 (Sakhalin).

Material examined. 1 ♂, Krasnaya Tym, 23.VIII.2001; 1 ♂, Slavy, 22.VIII.2001; 1 ♀, Vestochka, 31.VIII.2001.

Distribution. Russia (S RFE: S and central Sakhalin, S Kurils—Kunashir and Shikotan, S Khabarovskii Krai, S Amurskaya Oblast, Primorskii Krai; S Yakutia, S and W Siberia), Japan (Hokkaido), North Korea, South Korea (Jeju), China (NE, N, Western Plateau), Mongolia. In Beljaev (2016: 416), the distribution of E. achatinellaria in “Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Tsushima, Yakushima, Okinawa” is given erroneously as a result of a misprint.

Remarks. The new localities significantly expand the general distribution range of E. achatinellaria to the northeast. The known host plants of the larvae of this species in Yakutia are Salix (Salicaceae) and Ribes (Grossulariaceae) (Burnasheva 2011); probably, they are polyphagous on low deciduous trees and shrubs.

Until now, some authors consider E. achatinellaria as a subspecies of E. testata (Linnaeus) (from recent major publications— Nakajima & Yazaki 2011; Hausmann & Viidalepp 2012; Kim et al. 2016), although the clear morphological differences of these species were shown by Djakonov (1926) and Viidalepp (1987). Both species are present in Sakhalin: E. achatinellaria is known to the north up to Tymovskii District, whereas boreal E. testata —immediately northward of the latter, in Noglinskii and Okhinskii Districts (Beljaev 2001), and along the cool Sea of Okhotsk shore—on southward to Dolinskii district near the Starodubskoye village (47°24 N, 142°49′ E, “Sakayehama”: Matsumura 1925, as Lygris testata karafutonis Matsumura; current taxonomic status of the latter see in Beljaev 2016: 613), and in the extreme south-east of Sakhalin in the Korsakov urban district near Muravyovo village (46°30′ N, 143°18′ E, “Muravjovo”: Kurina 2022c). Preferred habitats of the both species are different: E. testata usually inhabits the cool mesophytic and hygrophytic habitats, whereas E. achatinellaria chooses the thermo-xerophytic biotopes.

Genetic data in the BOLD also support the separate status of E. achatinellaria. In this data base, judging from the photos of the moths, this species is represented as American " Eulithis diversilineata " from Primorskii Krai (BIN ID: ABZ0682, sample ID: BC ZSM Lep 62730, also as " Eulithis testata ", sequence ID: GWOTG454-12), and as " Eulithis testata " from Russia, Altai (BIN ID: ABZ0682, sequence ID: LEALT335-16, LEALT336-16 and GWOTG453-12). These samples together with the samples of E. achatinellaria transferred from the GenBank (BOLD sample ID: GBMNF21807-22, GBMNF21808-22, GBMNF21809-22 and GBMNF21810-22) form a separate cluster, opposed to the European samples. Corresponding GBIF occurrences are given in Table 2. Although pairwise distances between E. testata and E. achatinellaria are less than 2%, both taxa are distributed in different areas, which are partly overlapped in Siberia and RFE, what supports their specific taxonomic rank. Generally, all GBIF records of “ Eulithis testata ” from Korea and Japan should be associated with E. achatinellaria, whereas those from Russian territory, at least eastwards from the Uras, should be reexamined.

For easier identification, we give here a key to these species by appearance with some modifications in comparison with their distinguishing characters provided by Djakonov (1926) and Viidalepp (1987).