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Issue: Vol. 5782 No. 1: 23 Mar. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-03-23
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5782.1.5
Page range: 95-125
Abstract views: 56
PDF downloaded: 4

Restoration of the status of Ptilodontella and description of a new species, P. alberti, from the Caucasus and Pontic Mountains (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae, Notodontinae)

Barvikhinskaya str. 4/2/416; 121596 Moscow; Russia.
Department of Entomology; Biological Faculty; Lomonosov Moscow State University; Leninskie gory; GSP-1; korp. 12; 119991 Moscow; Russia; A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Russian Academy of Sciences; Leninskiy Prospekt 33; 119071 Moscow; Russia.
Calberlastr. 3; 01326 Dresden; Germany.
Altai State University; Lenina st. 61; 656049 Barnaul; Russia.
X-BIO Institute; University of Tyumen; Volodarskogo St. 6; 625003 Tyumen; Russia
Nature Research Centre; Akademijos str. 2; 08412 Vilnius-21; Lithuania.
Ulyanovsk State University; Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya Ulitsa 1; 432063 Ulyanovsk; Russia.
Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia; 48 Moika Emb.; Saint Petersburg; 191186; Russia.
Biological Institute; Tomsk State University; 36 Lenina Ave.; Tomsk; 634050; Russia.
Ludwig Maximilian University; Großhaderner St. 2-4; 82152 Planegg-Martinsried; Germany
Lepidoptera biodiversity Caucasus mixed forests Euxine–Colchic broadleaf forests Greater Caucasus lesser Caucasus Maple Prominent Noctuoidea taxonomy

Abstract

The genus Ptilodontella Kiriakoff, 1967 (the type species Bombyx cucullina Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) has been separated from the synonymy with the genus Ptilodon Hübner, 1822 (the type species Phalaena camelina Linnaeus, 1758) and reinstated as a distinct genus (stat. rev.) based on differences in male and female genitalia. Additionally, a new species, Ptilodontella alberti sp. n., has been described from the Greater and Lesser Caucasus and the Pontic Mountains spanning northern Turkey, with the type locality in the Republic of South Ossetia. This new species differs from its close relatives Ptilodontella cucullina (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) comb. rev. and Ptilodontella saerdabensis (Daniel, 1938) comb. n. in the shape of antennal rami and the genitalia of both sexes. Variability in wing patterns among species is demonstrated and is regarded as an unreliable feature for distinguishing the three species. The distribution boundary between the new species and P. cucullina lies between the lowland Pontic steppe and the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, while the boundary between the new species and P. saerdabensis is situated between the Lesser Caucasus and the Alborz Mountains. None of these species are found to fly sympatrically.

 

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How to Cite

Morozov, P.S., Krupitsky, A.V., Schintlmeister, A., Knyazev, S.A., Yakovlev, R.V., Saldaitis, A., Volkova, J.S., Streltzov, A.N., Ustjuzhanin, P.Y. & Prozorov, A.M. (2026) Restoration of the status of Ptilodontella and description of a new species, P. alberti, from the Caucasus and Pontic Mountains (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae, Notodontinae). Zootaxa, 5782 (1), 95–125. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5782.1.5