A Revision of Lasionycta Aurivillius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) for North America and notes on Eurasian species, with descriptions of 17 new species, 6 new subspecies, a new genus, and two new species of Tricholita Grote

Abstract

The North American species of Lasionycta Aurivillius are revised to include 43 species and 13 subspecies using traditional methods and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) DNA sequence (barcode) analysis. Seven species-groups are recognized, and one group is further divided into seven sub-groups. Seventeen species and six subspecies of Lasionycta are described: L. anthracina Crabo & Lafontaine, L. benjamini medaminosa Crabo & Lafontaine, L. brunnea Crabo & Lafontaine, L. caesia Crabo & Lafontaine, L. carolynae Crabo, L. coracina Crabo & Lafontaine, L. fergusoni Crabo & Lafontaine, L. frigida Crabo & Lafontaine, L. gelida Crabo & Lafontaine, L. haida Crabo & Lafontaine, L. illima Crabo & Lafontaine, L. mono Crabo & Lafontaine, L. uniformis fusca Crabo & Lafontaine, L. uniformis handfieldi Crabo & Lafontaine, L. uniformis multicolor Crabo & Lafontaine, L. uniformis shasta Crabo & Lafontaine, L. perplexella Crabo & Lafontaine, L. pulverea Crabo & Lafontaine, L. sasquatch Crabo & Lafontaine, L. sierra Crabo & Lafontaine, L. silacea Crabo & Lafontaine, L. subalpina Crabo & Lafontaine, and L. subfuscula livida Crabo & Lafontaine. Lasionycta coloradensis (Richards), L. dolosaL. flanda (Barnes & Benjamin), (Smith), L. poca (Barnes & Benjamin), and L. subfumosa (Gibson) are elevated to species. The following new synonyms are recognized: Scotogramma albinuda Smith (= Lasiestra phoca Möschler), Lasiestra klotsi Richards (= Scotogramma discolor Smith), Scotogramma infuscata Smith (= Mamestra promulsa Morrison), Lasionycta alberta Barnes & Benjamin and Anytus marloffi Smith (= Scotogramma perplexa Smith), Scotogramma sedilis Smith (= Scotogramma subfuscula Grote), Mamestra rainieri Smith (= Mamestra mutilata Smith), Anarta zemblica Hampson (= Anarta staudingeri Aurivillius), and Anarta etacta Smith (= Mamestra arietis Grote). The Eurasian species are reviewed resulting in the following changes: Lasionhada proxima (Hübner), comb. rev., Eriopygodes imbecilla (Fabricius), comb. rev., Lasionycta dovrensis (Wocke), stat. rev. and L. fumida (Graeser), stat. rev. The genus Psammopolia Crabo & Lafontaine (type species: Polia wyatti Barnes & Benjamin) is described, resulting in the following new combinations: Psammopolia arietis (Grote), comb. n., Psammopolia insolens (Grote), comb. n., Psammopolia ochracea (Smith), comb. n., Psammopolia sala (Troubridge & Mustelin), comb. n., and Psammopolia wyatti (Barnes & Benjamin), comb. n. Two new species of the related genus Tricholita Grote are described: T. ferrisi Crabo & Lafontaine from southwestern Arizona and T. knudsoni Crabo & Lafontaine from western Texas. Adults and genitalia of all North American Lasionycta and Psammopolia species and the new Tricholita are illustrated. Keys to species-groups and species are presented. DNA barcodes of 39 of the 43 species were sequenced and are presented as neighbor-joining phylograms. The barcodes support the taxonomy at genus and species-group level, but not consistently at the sub-group level. At the species-level, performance of DNA barcodes was variable; 17 of the 39 barcoded species exhibited haplotype variation discordant with morphology, phenotype and distribution. A high frequency (43.6 %) of haplotypes were either shared among more than one species (representing eight species), or were closely similar and nested within haplotypic variation of other species (nine species).