Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2020 | 12(13): 16916–16919
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5798.12.13.16916-16919
#5798 | Received 23 February 2020 | Final
received 11 May 2020 | Finally accepted 31 August 2020
First record of Ourapteryx dierli
Inoue, 1994 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae) from India
Sanjay Sondhi
1, Dipendra Nath Basu
2 & Krushnamegh Kunte
3
1 Titli Trust, 49 Rajpur
Road Enclave, Dhoran Khas, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248013, India.
1,2,3 Indian
Foundation for Butterflies. C-703, Alpine Pyramid, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar,
Bengaluru Karnataka 560097, India.
2,3 National
Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bellary
Road, Bangalore, Karnataka 560065, India.
1 sanjay.sondhi1@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 dipendran@ncbs.res.in, 3 krushnamegh@ncbs.res.in
Editor: Anonymity requested. Date
of publication: 26 September 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Sondhi, S., D.N. Basu & K. Kunte (2020). First record of Ourapteryx
dierli Inoue, 1994 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae) from
India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(13): 16916–16919. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5524.12.13.16916-16919
Copyright: © Sondhi et al. 2020. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Titli Trust’s work at Munsiari was funded by a CSR grant from ONGC Ltd.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: SS acknowledges the support provided by Emmanuel Theophilus, Malika Virdi and
Trilok Singh Rana and the various homestay owners of Himalayan Ark and Himal Prakiti, in surveying moths
in Sarmoli Village. We thank NCBS Research
Collections for facilities, and an NCBS research grant to KK, which supported
work by DNB. Yash Sondhi
supported some of the moth surveys in Munsiari and
assisted in preparing the distribution map for this manuscript.
The genus Ourapteryx
Leach, 1814 (Geometridae: Ennominae:
Ourapterygini) is distributed in Europe and Asia,
with over 75 described species (Lepidoptera Barcode of Life: Geometridae; Parsons et al. 1999). Ratnasingham
& Hebert (2007) identified 89 Ourapteryx
species in addition to 23 unidentified species. Hampson (1895)
listed nine species of Ourapteryx (as Urapteryx, a junior synonym) from the Indian
subcontinent. An unpublished compilation
“A Checklist of Indian Geometridae” by Gunathilagaraj Kandasamy listed 13 Ourapteryx
species, while Kirti et al. (2019) listed 24 species. In Nepal, Stüning
(1994) and Inoue (1995) listed 17 Ourapteryx
species. Stüning
(2000) added three more species, bringing the Nepal list to 20 species. In
Uttarakhand, adjacent to Nepal, only five species have so far been identified: Ourapteryx clara
(Butler, 1880), O. convergens Warren,
1897, O. ebuleata (Guenée,
1858), O. inouei Stüning,
2000, and O. sciticaudaria (Walker,
1862) (Smetacek 2008; Sondhi
& Sondhi 2016; Sanyal
et al. 2017; Kirti et al. 2019).
The first author conducted opportunistic moth surveys
between 2017 and 2019 in Sarmoli Village, Munsiari, Pithoragarh District, Uttarakhand. During these surveys, Ourapteryx
dierli Inoue, 1994, a moth species hitherto known
only from Nepal, was recorded.
Sarmoli Village is located a kilometer
from the town of Munsiari in Pithoragarh District,
Uttarakhand. The village, which is
located in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, is on an
east-facing hill slope of the Greater Himalaya.
The village is located in the Gori Ganga River basin, which flows
through the landscape.
In 2017, moth screens using a 160W mercury vapour bulb
were set up on 31.v.2017 at Emmanuel Theophilus’s
home (30.078N & 80.231E, 2,291m) and on 2.vi.2017, at Anusuya
Devi’s village homestay (30.07916N & 80.23535E, 2,200m). In 2018, a moth screen was set up on
22.v.2018 at Sarmoli Village using an 8W actinic tubelight at Hirma Devi’s
homestay in Sarmoli village, no more than 50m from Anusuya Devi’s homestay.
In 2019, a moth screen using a 160W mercury vapour bulb was set up on
22.v.2019 at Emmanuel Theophilus’s home (30.078N
& 80.231E, 2,291m). No individuals
of Ourapteryx dierli
came to the screens mentioned above. On
23.v.2019 at Saraswati Devi’s homestay (30.079N &
80.235E, 2,200m), in Sarmoli village, a single
individual of Ourapteryx dierli came to the moth screen at 2055 hours. The live individual was photographed and
collected (Image 1, 3).
The area adjacent to the moth screen was a typical
village vegetable garden growing legumes, citrus plants, and members of the
Brassicaceae family. The area
surrounding the village includes two Van Panchayats (Village Council Forests),
the Sarmoli Jainti Van
Panchayat covering 34ha, and the Sankhdura Van
Panchayat covering 88ha. The primary
vegetation surrounding the Sarmoli Village consists
of West Himalayan Temperate forest with trees such as Deodar Cedrus deodara,
Cypress (Cupressaceae), Horse Chestnut Aesculus sp., Rhododendron sp., Himalayan
Oaks Quercus sp., Alder Alnus nepalensis, Maple Acer sp. and Ringal Bamboo.
Material examined: The specimen (NCBS-BK945) of the
male O. dierli was collected by Sanjay Sondhi on 23.v.2019 from Sarmoli
Village, Munsiari, Pithoragarh District, Uttarakhand,
India (30.07916N & 80.23535E, 2,200m) and is deposited in the Research
Collections (http://collections.ncbs.res.in/) of the National Centre for
Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, India.
Adult moth description: Male. Voucher code NCBS-BK945
(Image 1). Forewing length 24mm. Upperside: forewing
ground colour, greyish-brown. Forewing
base is white. A broad, oblique white
ante-medial band from costa to inner margin.
Another broad, oblique post-medial band of similar width from costa to
inner margin, the bands forming an incomplete V. Some diffused whitish costal striations
between the two white bands. A narrow,
white sub-marginal band and orange cilia.
Hindwing tailed, with ground colour, greyish-brown. A white medial band widening from tornus to
costa. At the costa, the white band
merges with a broad white costal area. A
large rufous-brown oval tornal patch, with three black spots at its outer edge,
the uppermost of these black spots being red-centered. Inner margin of hindwing is narrowly
white. A narrow, white sub-marginal band
and orange cilia. Underside: forewing
ground colour dirty white with bands above, showing through below. Mottled brown striations in the cell and the
area surrounding it, as well as the area between the post-discal
and sub-marginal white bands. A
prominent brown band on the inner edge of the white post-medial band. A white sub-costal streak from near base to
2/3rd along costa. Hindwing
ground colour dirty white with bands above, showing through below. A broad brown medial band from inner margin
to costa. Mottled brown striations in
the post-medial area. The upper and
underside markings of the male specimen are a good match to the original description
of O. dierli (Inoue 1994). The only variability displayed when compared
with the holotype is slightly broader white bands on both wings in the
Uttarakhand individual, and the white costal striations, which are largely
absent in the holotype.
Genitalia description: Genitalia dissection of the
specimen by DNB revealed damaged uncus and distal tips of valves (corona and cucculus) in the Uttarakhand specimen (Image 2). Other parts of genitalia including aedeagus,
asymmetric juxta, tegumen and proximal extent of
valves, however, matched well with the original description (Inoue 1994). A redescription of
the male genitalia, examining the Uttarakhand specimen NCBS-BK945 and the
holotype is mentioned below:
Uncus falcate bent downwards at the distal end adhered
to broad proximally rounded tegumen at the lateral
profile. Vinculum slender and forms a
sigmoid proximal margin in conjunction with tegumen. Saccus short, gnathos conjoined at the tip and form a lip shaped spinous
lobe. Juxta elongates into
characteristic furca acutely recurved inward from
ventral angle and downward beneath the uncus from lateral angle. Distal tip of furca
forms an ellipsoid spinous lobe from lateral angle. Valves are elongated with highly chitinized costal process rounded at the distal tip, and
inner margin of corona laden with trichia. Aedeagus short with long sub-zonal and with
spinous cornuti.
Distribution: Ourapteryx
dierli Inoue, 1994 was first described from
central Nepal (Inoue 1994). The holotype
and paratypes of this species were collected on various dates in vi.1973 at
altitudes between 2,500–2,600 m from central Nepal (Inoue 1994, 1995). Subsequently, O. dierli
was recorded from western Nepal at an altitude of 1,000m on 25.vii.1996 (Stüning 2000). These
remain the only published records of this species. Hence the species’ known range is now
re-stated as eastern Kumaon in Uttarakhand, India, to
western and central Nepal (Image 4).
Natural history: Ourapteryx
dierli Inoue, 1994 has been recorded flying in
the months of May, June and July only in India and Nepal. In India, the moth was attracted to a 160W
mercury vapour bulb. There is no
information about its early stages (Robinson et al. 2010). The species has been recorded on the wing at
an altitudinal range of 2,400–2,600 m in eastern Kumaon
and central Nepal, though a specimen was collected from western Nepal at
1,000m.
Existing publications on geometrid moths from India do
not list O. dierli (Hampson
1895; Rose 2001; Smetacek 2008, 2009, 2011; Shubhalaxmi et al. 2011; Kirti et al. 2012, 2019; Sanyal et al. 2013a,b, 2017; Sondhi
& Sondhi 2016; Kumar et al. 2018). SS has also surveyed moths widely across
Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the last decade, and has never recorded
this species. There are no published
records of this species on the Moths of India website (Sondhi
et al. 2020). Hence, our record of O.
dierli extends its known range westwards into
Uttarakhand in India.
References
Hampson, G.F. (1895). The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and
Burma. Moths, Vol. 3 Taylor & Francis, London. Noctuidae
(cont.) to Geometridae, 546pp, 226 figs.
Inoue, H. (1994). Description of a new species of Ourapteryx
Leach Geometridae: Ennominae)
from Central Nepal. Tinea 14 (1): 10–12.
Inoue, H. (1995). The genera Abraxas and Ourapteryx
from Nepal (Geometridae, Ennominae),
pp. 119–139. In: Haruta,
T. (ed.). (1995). Moths of Nepal. Part 4. TINEA. Vol. 14
(Supplement 2). The Japan Heterocerists’
Society, Tokyo, 206pp+32pls.
Kirti, J.S., T. Goyal & M.
Kaur (2012). An inventory of family Geometridae (Lepidoptera) from Western Ghats of India. Journal
of Entomological Research 36(1): 83–94.
Kirti, J.S., K. Chandra, A. Saxena & N.
Singh. (2019). Geometrid Moths of India, Nature Books of India, New
Delhi, 296pp.
Kumar, M., P. Kumar & A. Kumar
(2018). Taxonomic Study on Geometrid
Moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) Diversity in Chir pine Forest of Himachal Pradesh. Asian Journal
Advanced Basic Sciences 6(1): 49–53.
Parsons, M., M. Scoble, M. Honey, L. Pitkin & B. Pitkin (1999). Geometrid Moths of the World: A Catalogue
(Lepidoptera, Geometridae). CSIRO, Clayton North,
Victoria, Australia, 1016pp+Index 129pp.
Ratnasingham, S. & P.D.N. Hebert (2007). BOLD: the barcode of life data system
(www.barcodinglife. org). Molecular Ecology Notes 7: 355–364.
Robinson, G.S., P.R. Ackery, I.J. Kitching, G.W. Beccaloni
& L.M. Hernández (2010). HOSTS –
A Database of the World’s Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum,
London. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/hostplants. Accessed on 29
January 2020.
Rose, H.S. (2001). Inventory of the Geometrid Moths (Lepidoptrea)
of Patiala, Bionotes 3(1): 183.
Sanyal, A.K., V.P. Uniyal, K.
Chandra & M. Bhardwaj (2013a).
Diversity, distribution pattern and seasonal variation in moth assemblages
along altitudinal gradient in Gangotri landscape area, Western Himalaya,
Uttarakhand, India. Journal of threatened Taxa 5(2):
3646–3653. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2597.3646-53
Sanyal, A.K., V.P. Uniyal, K.
Chandra & M. Bhardwaj (2013b).
Diversity and indicator species of moth (Lepidoptera: Heterocera)
assemblages in different vegetation zones in Gangotri Landscape, Western
Himalaya, India, pp. 114–129. In: Uniyal, V.P. &
A. Srivastava (Eds.) ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas, Vol. 14, Wildlife
Institute of India, Dehradun, 232pp.
Sanyal, A.K., P. Dey, V.P. Uniyal, K. Chandra & A. Raha
(2017). Geometridae
Stephens, 1829 from different altitudes in Western Himalayan Protected Areas of
Uttarakhand, India. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). SHILAP
Revista de Lepidopterología 45(177):
143–163.
Shubhalaxmi, V., R.C. Kendrick, A. Vaidya, N. Kalagi
& A. Bhagwat (2011). Inventory of
moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) of the northern
Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History
Society 108(3): 183–205.
Smetacek, P. (2008). Moths recorded from different elevation in Nainital
district, Kumaon Himalaya, India. Bionotes
10(1): 5–15.
Smetacek, P. (2009). Additions and corrections to the list of moths
recorded from different elevations in Nainital district, Kumaon
Himalaya, India. Bionotes 11(4): 117–118.
Smetacek, P. (2011). Further Additions to the Moths (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) of Nainital District, Kumaon
Himalaya, India. Bionotes 3: 4.
Sondhi, Y. & S. Sondhi (2016). A partial checklist of moths (Lepidoptera) of
Dehradun, Mussoorie and Devalsari
in Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 8(5): 8756–8776. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2814.8.5.8756-8776
Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, P. Roy
& K. Kunte (eds.) (2020). Moths of India, v. 2.00. Indian
Foundation for Butterflies. https://www.mothsofindia.org. Accessed on 30
January 2020.
Stüning, D. (1994). On the identity of Ourapteryx
ebuleata Guenee, 1857, O.
multistrigaria Walker, 1866, and O. caschmirensis Bastelberger,
1911, with description of two new species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae,
Ennominae). Nachrichten
des Entomologischen Vereins
Apollo (NF) 15: 109–134.
Stüning, D. (2000). Additional notes on the Ennominae
of Nepal with descriptions of eight new species (Geometridae),
pp. 94–152. In: Haruta, T. (ed.) Moths of Nepal. Part 6. TINEA.
Vol. 16 (Supplement 1). The Japan Heterocerists’
Society, Tokyo, 163pp+14pls.
Lepidoptera
barcode of life: Geometridae (http://lepbarcoding.org/geometridae/
accessed on 28 January 2020)