Pasiphila chloerata

Pasiphila chloerata (Mabille)

(Figs 52, 64a, 64b, 64c)

Eupithecia castigata, nec (Hübner): Matsumura 1925: 171.

Pasiphila chloerata: Sato 2001: 142.

Material examined. 1 ♂, Yasnomorskoe, 20.VII.2019.

Distribution. Russia (S RFE: S Sakhalin, Khabarovskii Krai, Amurskaya Oblast, Primorskii Krai; S and W Siberia, Urals, European Part, N Caucasus), Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu),? South Korea,? China, Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia, Turkey, Europe.

Remarks. The distribution of the species in Sakhalin is confirmed. A single original reference of the species from Sakhalin was earlier in Matsumura (1925, as “ Eupithecia (Eupithecia) castigata Hb. ”, reidentified by Sato 2001b) as P. chloerata, from “Ichinosawa” (Pervaya Pad’ village, ~ 5 km N of Korsakov center) and “Kawakamai” (Sinegorsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Urban District), both in SE Sakhalin. In Beljaev & Mironov (2019, 2021), the distribution of the species in Sakhalin was missed due to a misprint. In Europe the larvae feed in the flowers and on the leaves of various species of Prunus (Rosaceae); Prunus sachalinensis occurs only sparsely near the collecting site.

Taxonomic notes. Nominal taxon Eupithecia consueta Butler, 1879 was described from Japan, from the Tokyo-Yokohama area (see Inoue 1982a: 515). After Prout (1915: 298), it was considered for a long time as a separate species Chloroclystis consueta (Butler, 1879). Images of the type of E. consueta have never been published, and current treatment (probably, correct) of this taxon is based on the images of moths and the male and female genitalia in Inoue (1982b: pl. 78: figs 71 & 72, pl. 341: fig. 3, pl. 341: fig. 34, pl. 342: fig. 2, as Ch. consueta). Based on this publication, Mironov (1990: 660) synonymized E. consueta with P. chloerata accompanying his conclusion by a brief argumentation limited to statement about the existence of similarities between the European and Far Eastern specimens. Indeed, the genitalia of the specimen from Sakhalin (figs 64a, 64b, 64c) and of the moths P. chloerata from the continental part of the RFE (from the Amur region and Primorye) are in good agreement with the images of the male genitalia of “ Ch. consueta ” in Inoue (1982b: pl. 341: fig. 3, pl. 330: fig. 34) and are similar to those of the European moths.

However, the the genitalia of the East Asian males have a pair of the horn-like processes on the anellus slenderer and narrower in the base, the valvae are somewhat more dilated distally, and the paired rod-like sclerotization (‘octavals’) on the 8th sternite slightly shorter and stronger curved in an anterior (‘basal’) portion. In the female genitalia (Inoue 1982b: pl. 342: fig. 2) the ostial funnel (antrum) is slightly narrower, which correlates with the smaller size of the horn-like processes on the anellus in males. (It should be clarified that these processes, and all other spines enclosing the aedeagus in its distal part, belong to the anellus, and not to the aedeagus or cornuti on vesica, as it is sometimes stated in publications.)

As for the appearance of the moths, in literature before Mironov (1990) consueta was never compared with P. chloerata but with Pasiphila excisa (Butler) (by the forewing pattern: Butler 1879: 442), with Pasiphila debiliata (Hübner) (Prout 1915: 298), with Pasiphila obscura (West) (Prout 1938: 211), and with Pasiphila rectangulata (Linnaeus) (Inoue 1982a: 515). The male from Sakhalin and the continental Far Eastern moths well correspond to the photos in Inoue (1982b), and differ from the European P. chloerata in shape of the postmedial line on the forewing with a stronger outward bend of its middle portion and with a more distinct M-shaped fracture on the medial veins. These features make the moths outwardly similar to P. debiliata and other species of the genus Pasiphila Meyrick, mentioned above, except P. chloerata. Based on these small but consistent differences between the East Asian and European P. chloerata, we proposed to restore the validity of E. consueta as a subspecies of Pasiphila chloerata consueta (Butler, 1879), stat. n.

In the BOLD Public Data Portal, a single specimen of P. chloerata from the Russian Far East (Primorskii Krai; sequence ID: GMRST280-15) is clustered almost without distance with one of the two haplotypes of the European moths (BIN ID: AAD1465). However, this does not contradict to subspecific status of P. ch. consueta, as the species of geometrid moths clearly distinct morphologically might still share common barcodes (Makhov et al. 2021).

Known distribution of P. chloerata consueta is limited to the main islands of Japan and to the south of RFE. The reports from Korea and China need to be revised. In the BOLD, the Chinese specimen of “ Pasiphila chloerata AH 01Ch” from Beijing Shi (BIN ID: ACJ3304, sequence ID: GWOTL852-13; GBIF occurrence 1415543128, as “BOLD: ACJ3304 (Pasiphila sp.)”), possesses the distance 2.34% (p-dist) to the nearest neighbour, BIN ID: AAD1465 (P. chloerata), which makes association of this specimen with this species problematic. In the photo this specimen demonstrates close resemblance to P. obscura, especially by the reddish abdomen, which is characteristic to this species. Obviously, the specimen from Primorskii Krai with the same BIN ID (sequence ID: GMRSC454- 14; GBIF occurrence 1415461848) but lacking a photo, also belongs to P. obscura. Morphologically, P. obscura is most close to P. chloerata from the East Asian species of this genus, what correlates with their genetic neighbouring position.

The belonging of the specimens of “ Pasiphila chloerata bowringi ” (also from Beijing Shi, BOLD BIN ID: ACJ3306, sequence ID: GWOTL813-13 and GWOTL880-13; GBIF occurrences 1415543141 and 1415543153, as “cf. Pasiphila chloerata ”) to P. chloerata is debatable as they have a BIN distant to P. chloerata at a species level— 2.7% (p-distance). Besides, this identification is also questionable, as the photos of the specimens from Beijing Shi not quite correspond to the original description of Chloroclystis consueta bowringi Prout, 1958 (Prout 1958: 403) and to its image (Prout 1920 –1941, pl. 39: h). In the wing pattern the discussed specimens also resemble P. obscura, but they don’t have a reddish abdomen. Considering these data, the literature notes of P. chloerata in China (Beijing: Zou et al. 2016; Henan: Song et al. 2019) need to be confirmed.

Also, it should be noted that the moths and the male and female genitalia of “ Pasiphila chloerata ” in Nakajima & Yazaki (2011: 312, figs 1-066-48 and 1-066-49, Fig.Nsha45-2 and Fig.Nsha45-5) do not look like belonging to this species. The illustrated moths have different wing pattern, and in the male genitalia thay have cornuti on vesica much longer than those in P. ch. consueta or in the typical P. chloerata. In the wing pattern and general shape of the male genitalia they resemble P. obscura, but the abdomen is not coloured red. Cornuti on vesica are also markedly longer, than it is illustrated for P. obscura on Fig.Nsha45-3. In Korea, Choi (2013) describes and illustrates “ Pasiphila chloerata ” (loc. cit.: 57, figs 43, 59, 105, 156 and 206), but the photos of the moth, its abdomen, and the male and female genitalia do not correspond to P. ch. consueta or to the typical P. chloerata. Probably, this indicates the existence of a “cryptic” species.