Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Bulletin British Museum (Natural History) Entomology Series VOLUME 60 NUMBER 2 19 DECEMBER 1991 The Bulletin ofthe British Museum ( Natural History) , instituted in 1949, is issued in four scientific series, Botany, Entomology, Geology (incorporating Mineralogy) and Zoology, and an Historical series. The Entomology Series is produced under the editorship of the Keeper of Entomology: Dr L. A. Mound Publications Manager (Entomology): Dr P. C. Barnard Papers in the Bulletin are primarily the results of research carried out on the unique and ever-growing collections of the Museum, both by the scientific staff and by specialists from elsewhere who make use of the Museum's resources. Many of the papers are works of reference that will remain indispensable for years to come. A volume contains about 288 pages, made up of two numbers: published Spring and Autumn. Subscriptions may be placed for one or more of the series on an Annual basis. Individual numbers and back numbers can be purchased and a Bulletin catalogue, by series, is available. Orders and enquiries should be sent to: Sales Department, Natural History Museum Publications, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Telephone: 071-938-9386 Fax- 071-938-9212 World List abbreviation: Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) © British Museum (Natural History), 1991 ISBN 565 06042 2 Entomology Series ISSN 0524-6431 Vol 60, No. 2, pp. 205 - 288 British Museum (Natural History) Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD Issued 19 December 1991 Typeset by J & L Composition, Filey, N. Yorkshire Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.)60(2): 205-241 Issued 19 December 1991 Sattleria: a European genus of brachypterous alpine moths (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) LINDA M. PITKIN & K. SATTLER Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5 BD CONTENTS Synopsis 205 Introduction 205 Material and Methods 207 Abbreviations 208 Acknowledgements 209 The systematic position of Sattleria 209 Sattleria Povolny 210 Checklist of the species of Sattleria 214 Key to the species of Sattleria 215 References 240 Index 241 SYNOPSIS. The genus Sattleria Povolny (Gelechiinae, Gnorimoschemini), endemic to the alpine zone of European mountains, is revised. Eight species, including four newly described, are recognized as valid; one species is recalled from synonymy, one taxon reverts from subspecific to specific status, one subspecies is transferred to a different species and one synonym is newly established. Separate keys for males and females are provided, based on characters of the genitalia. Male and female moths and their genitalia are described and illustrated. the disposal of refuse add to the pressure on the INTRODUCTION environment. At the same time the agricultural sector's drive for greater profitability contributes through excessive application of fertilizers to In many parts of Europe the alpine zone was the reduced biodiversity even on remote alpine pas- last natural ecosystem almost undisturbed by tures, whilst long-range industrial air pollution man's activities and, as long as the mountains appears to be responsible for dramatic die-back of were remote and inaccessible, their unique flora alpine forests with resultant soil erosion (see, for and fauna could be considered relatively safe from example, B\ab etal., 1987: 170-177; Diem, 1988: destruction by mass tourism, intensive agriculture 2-8). or industrial processes. Increasing recreational Amongst the insects likely to be threatened by use of the mountains by a large, ever more affluent such degradation of their habitats a number of population, encouraged by commercial interests Lepidoptera species are particularly vulnerable, eager to exploit Europe's last touristic frontier, is because their females are flightless and they are now causing widespread overdevelopment and often confined to small disjunct colonies. An simultaneous destruction or fragmentation of sen- increased trend towards flightlessness with a more sitive natural habitats. Thus, numerous areas or less pronounced reduction of the wings has long previously inaccessible to a wider public have been known to occur in the females of Lepidoptera been opened up to tourism through the construc- inhabiting the alpine zone of high mountains in tion of new roads, hotels, holiday chalets, ski lifts many parts of the world. Such abortion of flight and pistes, cable cars and other facilities, and with and reduction of the flight organs as an apparent the growing number of visitors such problems as response to the ecological conditions in an extreme 206 LINDA M. PITKIN &K. SATTLER environment is not confined to high altitude representing one variable species, but would not species but is also observed in many Lepidoptera exclude the possibility that some of the more endemic to small remote oceanic islands and in extreme morphologically separable forms might species which are "active as adults during the cold be distinct species. At the same time he dismissed season; the whole phenomenon is extensively Gelechia pyrenaica Petry as falling within the reviewed by Sattler (1991). range of variation of dzieduszyckii, and sub- In the European Alps examples of Lepidoptera sequently synonymized it formally with the latter species with wing reduction in the female sex are (Povolny, 1967: 175), although Petry had been found in at least seven different families (Huemer emphatic that both were distinct. As Povolny's & Sattler, 1989: 257) but the total number of views had never been challenged it came as a species, which is in excess of 20, is still uncertain surprise when, during a field trip by members because several unresolved species-complexes are of the BMNH Microlepidoptera Section (G. S. involved. One such complex is the gelechiid genus Robinson, K. Sattler & K. R. C. Tuck) in 1981, Sattleria Povolny (Gelechiinae: Gnorimoschemini), Petry's observations in the central Pyrenees were which is endemic to Europe and inhabits the fully confirmed. On the slopes of Pic du Midi de higher mountains from the Pyrenees in the west to Bigorre two Sattleria species, clearly separable in the Carpathians in the east in a number of disjunct both sexes externally (Fig. 1) and by their genitalia, populations. It is likely that, together with their were found to fly together in the same biotope. In habitats, many of its taxa are endangered; how- the light of these findings it was decided to re- ever, to obtain meaningful data for assessing the assess the taxonomic status of all Sattleria popula- impact of adverse factors on the alpine ecosystem tions because it is not unreasonable to assume and its constituent parts, it is imperative first to that, if two undisputed species occur side by side understand the taxonomy of the organisms in- in the central Pyrenees, other morphologically volved. It is therefore a purpose of this paper to separable forms elsewhere may also represent elucidate the hitherto unresolved taxonomy of the distinct species. known Sattleria populations and summarize the Preliminary results of our studies were pre- limited available ecological data. sented at the Sixth Innsbrucker Lepidopterolo- When he proposed the genus Sattleria, Povolny gengesprach, held on 20-21 October 1984 at the (1965: 490-492) was ambivalent about the system- Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, where we atic status of the included taxa. He regarded the produced evidence to support our view that Sattleria genus as monotypic, with S. dzieduszyckii (Nowicki) comprises a complex of several closely related but Fig. 1 Males (left) and females (right) of two species of Sattleria from the Pyrenees: S. arcuata (top), S. pyrenaica (bottom). SA TTLER1A : A EUROPEAN GENUS OF BRACH YPTEROUS ALPINE MOTHS 207 morphologically distinguishable species. A second- most of the material recorded in earlier publica- hand report on our presentation prompted Povolny tions, usually as Gelechia dzieduszyckii Nowicki, (1987) to pre-empt our planned publication by a was re-assessed, including several of the specimens hastily produced paper in which he reiterated his illustrated or otherwise itemized by Povolny (1965; belief in dzieduszyckii as a single variable species. 1967; 1983; 1987). We were unable to trace any In essence he recognized several geographical examples from Bulgaria (Rebel, 1903: 329) whilst forms, variously referred to as 'Rassenkomplex', the only known specimens from Montenegro 'Rassenkreis', 'Populationsgruppe' or subspecies, (Rebel, 1913: 330) and Albania (Rebel & Zerny, but emphasized that, for the time being, these are 1931 ; 146), which belong to NM, Vienna, have not to be taken as representing merely statistical yet been returned by Povolny and were not trends. At the same time he stated that it is examined. impossible to assign individual moths of unknown We studied 117 genitalia slides (84 males, 33 geographic origin unambiguously to any of those females), most of which were specifically pre- subspecific groups. A key factor in his argument pared for this work. The male genitalia were was the strong variation in size, coloration and 'unrolled' in accordance with the technique pre- genitalia structures he believed to have observed viously described (Pitkin, 1986). Originally in his specimens from the Pyrenees; however, developed for the gelechiid genus Mirificarma from his illustrated examples it is clear that he Gozmany, this method also proved ideal for misinterpreted as intraspecific variation the dif- Sattleria males; without sacrificing