A review of the plume moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) of Israel

Petr Ya. Ustjuzhanin; Vasiliy N. Kovtunovich; Vasiliy D. Kravchenko; Aidas Saldaitis; Günter C. Müller; Amir Weinstein

Authors

Petr Ya. Ustjuzhanin Altai State University, 61 Lenin Str., Barnaul, 656049 Russia & Biological Institute, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenin Prospekt, Tomsk, 634050 Russia. E-mail: petrust@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5222-2241
Vasiliy N. Kovtunovich Moscow Society of Nature Explorers, 2 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Str., Moscow, 125009 Russia. E-mail: vasko-69@mail.ru
Vasiliy D. Kravchenko The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4523-0291
Aidas Saldaitis Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
Günter C. Müller Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRC, Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infections and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7024-0179
Amir Weinstein The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel

Keywords:

Biodiversity, Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae, Israel, Mediterranean, Middle East, fauna, microlepidoptera, plume moths, moths

Abstract

Available information on the Israeli plume moths is rather scarce and outdated. Prior to our investigation, 41 species were recorded from the country. The material from the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv yielded another four species: Agdistis bellissima Arenberger, 1975; Marasmarcha ehrenbergiana (Zeller, 1841); Pterophorus pentadactyla (Linnaeus, 1758); and Wheeleria sobeidae (Arenberger, 1981). Five species are endemics or sub-endemics of Israel: Hellinsia aegyptiacus (Rebel, 1914); Hellinsia scholastica (Meyrick, 1924); Agdistis pygmaea Amsel, 1955; Agdistis nigra Amsel, 1955; Capperia fletcheri Adamczewski, 1951. The diversity of ecologies in Israel suggests that the plume moth fauna in the country may substantially increase through a targeted collection effort.

Cite as: Ustjuzhanin, P.Ya., Kovtunovich, V.N., Kravchenko, V.D., Saldaitis, A., Müller, G.C. & Weinstein, A. 2020. A review of the plume moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) of Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 50 (1): 163–177.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4682873

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9D2CFF06-EC2A-4005-B67B-9299B6F3F749