New records of two noctuid species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) from Iran

Abstract

­­­The biodiversity of the Noctuidae, an economically important family of Noctuoidea which include major crop pests, is becoming well-identified nowadays in Iran due to the increased number of faunal expeditions. The two large subfamilies of Noctuidae namely Xyleninae Guenée, 1837 and Noctuinae Latreille, 1809 comprise the majority of Iran's noctuid moth fauna. Two species, Leucochlaena hoerhammeri (Wagner, 1931) and Dichagyris (Stenosomides) mansoura (Chrétien, 1911) members of Xyleninae and Noctuinae subfamilies, respectively, are recorded from Iran for the first time. This is also the first record of the subgenus Stenosomides Strand, 1942 from Iran. Both the external and genital characteristics of the newly recorded species are presented together with illustrations of the adults and their genitalia.

Keywords

• dichagyris
• distribution
• fauna
• leucochlaena
• taxonomy