A replacement name for the genus-group name NannaBirket-Smith, 1965 (Erebidae: Arctiinae: Syntomini).

In the fly family Scathophagidae (Diptera), the genus Nanna Strobl, 1894 was introduced as (D. Nanna Becker) flavipes Fall. Zett. 2059, 6332, SS.11! Becker! (Strobl 1894: 78), with Cordylura flavipes Fall, 1819 as its type species. See Michelsen (2001: 323326) for correct authorship and validity of the name Nanna Strobl, 1894 as senior synonym of names proposed by Becker (1894) in the same year.

A replacement name for Acrapex albicostata Hampson, 1916 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

In 1905, O. B. Lower described Sesamia albicostata from Australia, based on one male specimen taken at Ocean Grange, near Sale, Victoria in January (Lower 1905: 175). Apart from the bibliographical records in the series Zoological Record (Sharp 1906: 262) and Archiv für Naturgeschichte (Lucas 1910: 613), the name Sesamia albicostata occurred only in two other subsequent publications. G. F. Hampson (1910: 327) repeated the short description of Lower without further comments, though he had seen the type specimen which was at that time preserved in the private collection of Lower. He depicted the specimen on plate 144 in fig. 21 [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32600328] (Fig. 1).

A replacement name for Dichomeris paulianella Viette, 1957 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae).

By transferring Lecithocera paulianella Viette, 1955 to the genus Dichomeris (Gelechiidae), Park, Koo Minet (2020: 155, 173) caused a nomenclatorial problem (see Art. 52.1) since in that genus there exists already a species Dichomeris paulianella Viette, 1957 which by this action becomes a junior secondary homonym (see Art. 53.3). Though the authors were aware of this homonymy, they refrained from proposing a replacement name (Park et al. 2020: 174). In order to make it possible to distinguish both taxa by their names and prevent future confusion, we herewith propose Dichomeris pauliani De Prins Koo, nom. nov. as the objective replacement name (see Art. 60.3) for Dichomeris paulianella Viette, 1957.

Re-examination of the type specimens of Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera), deposited in the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Belgium, with descriptions of ten new species from DR Congo belonging to Thubdora Park and Torodora Meyrick.

The type specimens of Lecithoceridae which are deposited in the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Tervuren, Belgium (five species of Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer and two of Homaloxestis Meyrick) were re-examined. The results are: 1) two species of Lecithocera are transferred to Thubdora Park and Torodora Meyrick respectively, with new combinations: Thubdora barbata (Meyrick, 1933), comb. nov. and Torodora semnodora (Meyrick, 1933), comb. nov.; 2) six species which were misidentified as L. barbata are described as new species in the genus Thubdora: T. ealeaensis sp. nov., T. ghesquierei sp. nov., T. gladiator sp. nov., T. kapangaensis sp. nov., T. neobarbata sp. nov. and T. seydeli sp. nov.; 3) four species which were misidentified as L. semnodora are described as new species in the genus Torodora: T. amplignathosa sp. nov. , T. lichanosa sp. nov., T. planusa sp. nov. and T. triloba sp. nov.; 4) L. schoutedeniella Ghesquière is transferred to Dichomeris Hübner of the family Gelechiidae; 5) Homaloxestis pancrocopa Meyrick does not belong to Homaloxestis nor to Lecithoceridae, and should be transferred to a different family of Gelechioidea; 6) a lectotype is designated for Lecithocera semnodora Meyrick, 1933; 7) the species names of Lecithocera eugenopa Meyrick and Homaloxestes chloromorpha Meyrick based on the type-labels under two specimens are revealed as unpublished manuscript names. Illustrations of the adults and their genitalia of all the types are provided.

A review of the Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea) of southern Africa, based on type specimens deposited in the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (TMSA), with descriptions of three new species.

The Lecithoceridae of southern Africa are reviewed, based on material preserved in the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. A total of 22 species are recognized including three new species: Idiopteryx jansei sp. nov., Lecithocera minyodes sp. nov. and Protolychnis natalensis sp. nov. Isotypa Janse, 1954 syn. nov. is synonymized with Idiopteryx Walsingham, 1891 and Homaloxestis lophophora Janse, 1954 stat. rev. is raised to species rank, separating it from H. cholopis Meyrick, 1906. In addition, Lecithocera ochrometra Meyrick, 1933 is transferred to Torodora Meyrick, 1894 as T. ochrometra (Meyrick, 1933) comb. nov., Lecithocera officialis Meyrick, 1911 is excluded from Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer, 1853, and Dragmatucha proaula (Meyrick, 1908) is newly reported from Kenya. It is revealed that the male genital figure for Homaloxestis cholopis (Meyrick, 1906) by Janse (1954) was erroneously illustrated, based on a different species which is probably undescribed. Another miss-placed figure of the genitalia by Janse (1954) was also found for Lecithocera aenicta Janse, 1954. Diagnosis, descriptions (only for the new species), depositories of types, and distribution data of all the known species are provided. Images of adults, male and/or female genitalia, and the venation of a few species are illustrated.

Geometrid outbreak waves travel across Europe.

We show that the population ecology of the 9- to 10-year cyclic, broadleaf-defoliating winter moth (Operophtera brumata) and other early-season geometrids cannot be fully understood on a local scale unless population behaviour is known on a European scale. Qualitative and quantitative data on O. brumata outbreaks were obtained from published sources and previously unpublished material provided by authors of this article. Data cover six decades from the 1950s to the first decade of twenty-first century and most European countries, giving new information fundamental for the understanding of the population ecology of O. brumata. Analyses on epicentral, regional and continental scales show that in each decade, a wave of O. brumata outbreaks travelled across Europe. On average, the waves moved unidirectionally ESE-WNW, that is, toward the Scandes and the Atlantic. When one wave reached the Atlantic coast after 9-10 years, the next one started in East Europe to travel the same c. 3000 km distance. The average wave speed and wavelength was 330 km year(-1) and 3135 km, respectively, the high speed being incongruous with sedentary geometrid populations. A mapping of the wave of the 1990s revealed that this wave travelled in a straight E-W direction. It therefore passed the Scandes diagonally first in the north on its way westward. Within the frame of the Scandes, this caused the illusion that the wave moved N-S. In analogy, outbreaks described previously as moving S-N or occurring contemporaneously along the Scandes were probably the result of continental-scale waves meeting the Scandes obliquely from the south or in parallel. In the steppe zone of eastern-most and south-east Europe, outbreaks of the winter moth did not participate in the waves. Here, broadleaved stands are small and widely separated. This makes the zone hostile to short-distance dispersal between O. brumata subpopulations and prevents synchronization within meta-populations. We hypothesize that hostile boundary models, involving reciprocal host-herbivore-enemy reactions at the transition between the steppe and the broadleaved forest zones, offer the best explanation to the origin of outbreak waves. These results have theoretical and practical implications and indicate that multidisciplinary, continentally coordinated studies are essential for an understanding of the spatio-temporal behaviour of cyclic animal populations.

Taxonomic history and invasion biology of two Phyllonorycter leaf miners (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) with links to taxonomic and molecular datasets.

This paper deals with two European species, Phyllonorycter mespilella (Hübner, 1805) and P. trifasciella (Haworth, 1828), that have colonized the subtropical Canary Islands. The Rosaceae leaf miner, P. mespilella, is recorded for the first time from Lanzarote and La Palma, while the Caprifoliaceae leaf miner, P. trifasciella, is recorded from Tenerife. We present the diagnoses of these species based on morphology, a preliminary DNA barcode (COI) library of congeneric and con-familial species, and discuss the taxonomic position of the colonizers within the blancardella and trifasciella species groups. The recent intensification of anthropogenic disturbance likely accounts for their range expansion, an event that may impact the relict flora present on the Canary Islands.

New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy.

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.