An Ennomine Species, Paradarisa chloauges (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), New to Korea

Abstract

An ennomine species, Paradarisa chloauges Prout, 1927 is newly recorded from Korea. Adults were collected at the south aspect of Mt. Hallasan, Jejudo. Paradarisa chloauges can be distinguished by grayish or dark greenish foreand hindwings, blackish basal, ante- and postmedial lines with a blackish discal dot on the forewing and transverse antemedial line, as well as a strongly dentate postmedial line and a thick, dark brownish tinged subterminal line on the hindwing. Paradarisa chloauges is externally very similar to P. consonaria, but can be distinguished by the larger wingspan and flying time. The male genitalia of P. chloauges are similar to those of P. consonaria, but can be distinguished by the long sacculus and two harpe processes on the valva and the large spinular cornuti on the vesical. The female genitalia of P. chloauges are similar to those of P. consonaria, but can be distinguished by the large bagshaped corpus bursae. To date, two species of the genus Paradarisa have been recorded in Korea.

INTRODUCTION

The genus Paradarisa Warren consists of large-sized geometrid moths in the subfamily Ennominae. The genus was erected by Warren (1894) based on a morphological character, ciliate male antennae. The monophyly of the genus was not defined yet. There are five species of the genus, most of which occur in Asian regions such as India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Taiwan (Scoble, 1999). To date, only one species, P. consonaria Hübner, has been identified in Korea (Kim et al., 2016). During a moth survey on Mt. Hallasan, Jejudo, we found an additional species of Paradarisa, P. chloauges Prout. Here, we report the occurrence of the species for the first time in Korea.

Adult moths were collected using a UV-light bucket trap with a 12 V battery (BioQuip, USA) during night. All collected adults were preserved in a freezer and mounted for examination. For slide preparation of male and female genitalia, each specimen was prepared by boiling the abdomen in 10% KOH for approximately 20 min. Scales and tissues were removed, stained with Chlorazol black, and mounted on slides in Euparal solution. For wingspan measurements, the distance from the tip of the left forewing to the tip of the right forewing was used.

Terminology of adult, including the male and female genitalia, refers to Hausmann (2001). All materials were deposited in the Collection of Insects of the Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University. Abbreviations: JJ, Jeju-do.

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNTS

Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758

Family Geometridae Leach, 1815

Genus Paradarisa Warren, 1894

Paradarisa chloauges Prout, 1927 (Figs. 1A, 2A, B, E)

Paradarisa chloauges Prout, 1927: 937.

Paradarisa comparataria kurosawai Inoue, 1956: 6.

Fig. 1. Adults of Paradarisa in Korea. A, Paradarisa chloauges; B, Paradarisa consonaria.

Fig. 2. Male and female genitalia of Paradarisa in Korea. A, B, E, Paradarisa chloauges; C, D, F, Paradarisa consonaria.​​​​​​​

Material examined. 4 males, 1 female, Korea: JJ: Seogwipo, Namwon-eup, Mt. Hallasan National Park, 33°19ʹ57ʺN, 126° 36ʹ25ʺE, 499m above sea level, 9 Jul 2015, 1 Oct 2016, 1 Oct 2018, Choi SW

Diagnosis. Wingspan 39-40 mm. This grayish or dark greenish winged species can be distinguished by the filiform antennae, the grayish well projected labial palpi, slender brownish frons, grayish body, grayish or dark greenish fore- and hindwings, blackish basal, ante- and postmedial lines with a blackish discal dot on the forewing and transverse antemedial line, as well as a strongly dentate postmedial line and a thick, dark brownish tinged subterminal line on the hindwing. The male genitalia can be distinguished by the strongly tapered uncus with long hairs on the gnathos, a medially fused mushroom-body shaped transtilla, a triangular saccus, a strongly bifurcated valva with a long sacculus process and a strongly sclerotized harpe with two spinular processes and an anteriorly expanded, rod-shaped aedeagus with a pair of large spinular cornuti. The female genitalia can be distinguished by the long papillae anales, narrow antrum, short ductus bursae and large bag-shaped corpus bursae that show the sclerotized stripes anteriorly and a large stellate signum.

Distribution. Korea, Japan, India.

Remarks. There are two species of Paradarisa in Korea: P. consonaria and P. chloauges. Paradarisa chloauges is externally very similar to P. consonaria (Fig. 1B), but can be distinguished by the larger wingspan. The male genitalia of P. chloauges are similar to those of P. consonaria (Fig. 2C, D), but can be distinguished by the long sacculus and two harpe processes on the valva and the large spinular cornuti on the vesical. The female genitalia of P. chloauges are similar to those of P. consonaria (Fig. 2F), but can be distinguished by the large bag-shaped corpus bursae. Additionally, the occurrence of two species is different: P. chloauges fly in summer and autumn, while P. consonaria fly on spring. P. chloauges feed on Quercus phillyraeoides A. Gray and Magnolia stellata (Siebold & Zucc.) Maxim.(Fagaceae)(Kishida, 2011).