Ottia, a new ennomine genus of moth from Tajikistan (Lepidoptera: Geometridae).

An ennomine species, described earlier as Plagodis ochraceata Viidalepp, 1988, is transferred from Plagodis Hbner, [1823]1816 to a genus of its own: Ottia ochraceata (Viidalepp, 1988) (gen. nov., comb. nov.). The morphology of the adult moth, of its male and female genitalia, phenology and spatial distribution are described and its taxonomic relationships are analyzed.

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

Background: 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. Malussieversii, 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. New information: This paper provides a description of a new species of geometrid moth, Pljushtchiaargoi sp. n. As the ancestral Malussieversii has diverged in Malussilvestris in Europe, Malusturkestanica in Kyrgyzstan and Malushissarica in Tajikistan, a co-divergence of geometrid moths and their food plants is possible. We found Chlorissaarkitensis Viidalepp in the Chatkal area, Tien Shan, its sister species Chlorissatalvei Viidalepp in Hissar and Pamirs and Chlorissapretiosaria Staudinger in Transcaucasus. Pljushtchiaprima is associated with a biodiversity hotspot in Tajikistan and Pljushtchiaargoi with another biodiversity hotspot in southern Tien Shan.

Taxonomic notes on two endemic geometrine genera from Middle Asia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae).

The genus Hissarica Viidalepp (Geometridae, Geometrinae) is restored from synonymy with Xenochlorodes Warren. The moths and their male and female genitalia are illustrated and characterized in comparison with those of Hierochthonia Prout and Xenochlorodes. Taxonomic positions of Hierochthonia alexandraria Prout and Eucrostes petitaria Christoph are discussed and the new genus Ratsa Viidalepp Kostjuk gen. nov. is established for them, creating the new combinations Ratsa alexandraria Prout and Ratsa petitaria Christoph.

Review of the Central Asian species of Phthorarcha Meyrick (Geometridae: Alsophilinae) with description of a new species.

The Central Asian species of the winter moth genus Phthorarcha Meyrick, 1892 are revised and some specimens of the type series of Phthorarcha primigena Staudinger, 1895 are separated and described as Phthorarcha haberhaueri, sp. nov. These poorly known moths and their male and female genitalia are described and illustrated and discrimination of the genera Phthorarcha, Alsophiloides Inoue and Chimaphila Nakajima Wang is analysed.

Rhodostrophia crypta, a new species from Middle Asia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae).

BACKGROUND: Rhodostrophia is a speciose genus which is widespread in arid landscapes of Central Asia. NEW INFORMATION: A new species, Rhodostrophia crypta sp. n. is described below from Kazakhstan.

Archedontia agnesae gen. n., sp. n., a new sterrhine species from Tadjikistan (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Sterrhinae).

A new geometrid species, Archedontia agnesae sp. n. is described from Tadjikistan. The new genus Archedontia gen. n. is assigned to the sterrhine tribe Rhodometrini, aside genus Ochodontia Lederer. Adult moth, male and female genitalia are figured and described, and COI barcode data analysed.

A new Neotropical emerald moth genus based on some unusual "artefacts" (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae).

We describe a nemoriine emerald moth genus, Vallichlora gen. nov., with modified male genitalia, including two new species: Vallichlora rara sp. n.-the type species-and Vallichlora selva, sp. n. The genus is characterised by the presence of two long, thumb-shaped processes of the tegumen.

Description of a new species of the Lissochlora albociliaria species group (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae).

The genus Lissochlora was described by Warren (1900) and revised by Pitkin (1993) with respect to the fauna of Costa Rica. Lissochlora has a small spur or kink to its aedeagus and is distinguished from related genera by the absence of basal costal process of the valva in the male genitalia, which is present in Nemoria Hübner, Rhodochlora Warren and Paromphacodes Warren (Pitkin 1993, 1996). Paromphacodes, Lissochlora and Nemoria cluster together, sharing a bilobed eighth sternite and the presence of a costal sclerite or ornamentation on the valva (Viidalepp 2017). Usually species of Lissochlora have a shorter uncus in the male genitalia than that of related genera, and the last abdominal sternite of the male is usually shorter than the corresponding tergite (Viidalepp 2017).

Review of some species groups of the genus Oospila Warren, with descriptions of nine new species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae).

The Neotropical geometrine genus Oospila Warren, 1897 includes seventy-nine species and was revised by Cook Scoble (1995). The genus is distinctive in having a row of raised abdominal crests, which are composed of specialized, erect, metallic shining scales. This paper focuses on the integrative morphological and molecular delimitation of the smallest Oospila species. The wing patterns and genitalia structures of males and females are illustrated. Cook Scoble (1995) distinguished 13 species groups within Oospila. We discuss the species of the Oospila flavilimes species group, the O. stigma species group and O. miccularia species group below, and separate the O. arpata species complex into a group of its own. Nine new species and two new subspecies are described in this paper: O. cristae sp. n. from Ecuador, O. falcata sp. n. from French Guiana, O. pallidaria boliviensis subsp. n. from Bolivia, and O. loreenae sp. n. from Bolivia (flavilimes species group), O. ehakernae sp. n. from Costa Rica, O. similiplaga bolarpata subsp. n. from Bolivia (arpata species group), O. brehmi sp. n. and O. bifida sp. n. both from Bolivia, O. moseri sp. n. from Brazil, O. absaloni sp. n. and O. pipa sp. n. both from Ecuador (miccularia species group). Oospila similiplaga (Warren) (stat. nov.) is raised here from synonymy with O. arpata (Schaus) and O. imula (Dognin) from synonymy with O. miccularia (Guenée), respectively. Oospila agnetaforslundae nom. nov. is proposed as a replacement name for Oospila marginata Schaus, 1912 (nec Oospila marginata Warren, 1897), raising it to species rank from synonymy of Oospila permagna (Warren, 1909). With this paper, the number of Neotropical Oospila species is raised to 88.

A morphology based key to the genera of the tribe Nemoriini (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae).

A diagrammatic key to the genera of the Nemoriini tribe (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) is presented and illustrated. The genera studied exhibit two main character sets, corresponding to the Nemoria lineage and the Phrudocentra lineage. The spatulate type of uncus is associated with multicolor wing markings on both hemispheres. A rod-shaped uncus, often slightly bulbed at its tip, is common in the Neotropics, the genera involved having their wing markings reduced to white lines or brown-grey vein marks on a plain green ground color.

Oospila bulava, a new emerald geometrid moth from South America (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae).

Warren (1897) described the genus Oospila for Phorodesma trilunaria Guenée, 1857 from Brazil. Prout (1912; 1932-1933) revised the genus, listing 48 species in the first publication and 58 species in the latter one, in Oospila. Cook and Scoble (1995) grouped eight related genera under Oospila, including 73 species and dividing these into 13 species groups. Pitkin (1996) relied on this revision while publishing a monographic review of the Neotropical geometrine genera. Parsons et al. (1999) attributed the same species that in Cook and Scoble (1995) to the genus. Two species are described later (Viidalepp, 2002; Lévèque & Viidalepp, 2015). While revising collections from the Neotropical region during the last decade, the authors of the present article have found several undescribed taxa: cryptic species are frequently overlooked in large-scale works (Voda et al., 2014). The result of one case study is published in this article. The primary and subsequent descriptions of relevant taxa are consulted.

Two new emerald geometrid species of Telotheta Warren from Ecuador and Bolivia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae, Lophochoristini).

Two new species of the lophochoristine genus Telotheta Warren found in Ecuador and Bolivia are described. The paper focuses on the morphological description and illustration of the wing pattern and genitalia structures of the typus generis Telothetamuscipunctata Dognin and the newly identified species Telothetaunoi and Telothetafresei. The distinguishing characters of the genera Telotheta and Paromphacodes are also briefly discussed.

Haruchlora maesi, a new emerald moth genus and species from Mesoamerica (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae).

A new genus and species of Neotropical emerald geometrid moths, Haruchlora Viidalepp & Lindt, gen. nov., and Haruchlora maesi Viidalepp & Lindt, sp. nov. are described. The new genus differs from all other New World Geometrinae genera in having a bifid uncus, in characters of the pregenital segments of the male abdomen, and in the male genitalia. 

The evolution of female flightlessness among Ennominae of the Holarctic forest zone (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).

In order to facilitate the study of the evolution of female flightlessness among the geometrid subfamily Ennominae (Lepidoptera, Geometridae), we carried out a phylogenetic analysis based on a morphological data matrix, and DNA sequences. We used seven nuclear gene fragments, elongation factor 1alpha (EF-1alpha), wingless (wgl), isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), ribosomal protein S5 (RpS5) and segments D1 and D2 of the 28S rRNA gene, and one mitochondrial gene fragment, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI). Sampling included 55 species of Ennominae covering all tribes with flightless females of the Holarctic boreal zone, and some other geometrids used as outgroups. Our results clearly confirmed that Ennominae (including Alsophila of the traditional subfamily Alsophilinae) is a monophyletic group, as well as supported the previously established morphology-based division of Ennominae into "ennomine" and "boarmiine" groups of genera. A number of taxonomic ambiguities were resolved but the monophyly of the traditionally recognised tribe Bistonini, comprising a number of flightless species, remained ambiguous. Bistonini is thus suggested to be subsumed to the tribe Boarmiini in the broad sense. Indeed, an analysis of timing of divergence suggested that Boarmiini s. lat. rapidly diversified in the late Oligocene/early Miocene. Within the Ennominae, seven independent origins of female flightlessness were revealed facilitating phylogenetic comparative analyses to be performed in search of causes and consequences of this phenomenon. The present phylogenetic hypothesis supports the conclusions of the "adaptive story", a hypothesis of the sequence of evolutionary events leading to flightlessness, we have presented earlier (Snäll et al., 2007). In particular, in the "boarmiine" group, the tribe Boarmiini s. lat. clearly represents a group of geometrids in which female flightlessness has evolved more frequently than in any other tribes, suggesting that this clade has likely been predisposed to evolutionary events leading to the manifestation of female flightlessness. The ancestor of the wing-reduced Ennominae has likely been a winged but slow flying forest moth feeding polyphagously on deciduous trees.