Pljushtchia argoi sp. n., a new geometrid moth from the Western Tien Shan Mountains (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the morphological description and illustration of the wing pattern and genitalia structures of the known species of the genus Pljushtchia. The possibility of co-evolution of Pljushtchia moths and fruit tree forests of Tien Shan is discussed. The maple tree is supposed to have evolved in the Ili River valley in NW China and in Kazakhstan. Malus sieversii, the wild apple tree, is distributed in Miocene nemoral forest belt to Europe in the West an to western North America in the East. The last remnants of fruit tree forests are now localised in biodiversity hotspots in China and in Middle Asian mountains. This paper provides a description of a new species of geometrid moth, Pljushtchia argoi sp. n. As the ancestral Malus sieversii has diverged in Malus silvestris in Europe, Malus turkestanica in Kyrgyzstan and Malus hissarica in Tajikistan, a co-divergence of geometrid moths and their food plants is possible. We found Chlorissa arkitensis Viidalepp in the Chatkal area, Tien Shan, its sister species Chlorissa talvei Viidalepp in Hissar and Pamirs and Chlorissa pretiosaria Staudinger in Transcaucasus. Pljushtchia prima is associated with a biodiversity hotspot in Tajikistan and Pljushtchia argoi with another biodiversity hotspot in southern Tien Shan.