A new species of the genus Pediasia Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea, Crambidae) from the Eastern Palaearctic

Abstract

The article is an illustrated description of Pediasia arctica sp. nov. from the polar regions of the Eastern Palearctic. Morphologically, the new species is closest to the North American Pediasia browerellus (Klots, 1942), however, it is significantly different from the latter in the structure of the male genital apparatus. Pediasia arctica has a longer and more curved aedeagus, while its costal process of the valva is longer and thinner. Outwardly, among the Palearctic species, the new species is most similar to the Central Asian Pediasia alaica (Rebel, 1907) and Pediasia zellerella (Staudinger, 1900) which have a darker gray color and a contrasting pattern of the forewings; there are also significant differences in the structure of the male genitalia. Pediasia arctica inhabits flat tundra of various types from Taimyr to Chukotka. The specimens of the type series were collected in July.

Keywords

• grass moths
• lepidoptera
• crambidae
• crambinae
• eastern palaearctic
• pediasia
• new species