On the biology of Pararctia lapponica lemniscata (Stichel, 1911) (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) in northern Amur region.

Abstract

For the first time certain biological features of the rare Tigermoths taxon Pararctia lapponica lemniscata (Stichel, 1911) (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) are presented based on the research from the Bureinsky Nature Reserve (Russia, Khabarovsk Krai), where the taxon’s most southeastern habitats are located. Their preferred habitats are mountain larch forests at altitudes of 900–1400 m above sea level, where Sphagnum mosses, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Rubus chamaemorus and R. arcticus prevail in the lower layer of vegetation. Adult moths appear only in even years, and are active in the daytime with the flight period from June 20 to July 10. The morphology of larvae from first to sixth instars has been studied for the first time. Sixth instar larvae have a black shiny head and a blackgray body with a row of black warts bearing tufts of long black (located only on the dorsal side) and short light hairs along each segment. They differ from the larvae of the nominative subspecies by the absence of polymorphism, and in senior instars light hairs prevail on the body. The number of light hairs increases with each subsequent instar. In their appearance, the larvae P. l. lemniscata are most similar to the larvae of the western North American species Pararctia yarrowii (Stretch, [1874]).