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The distribution and biology of Pararctia subnebulosa (Dyar, 1899) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), the largest tiger moth species in the High Arctic

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Abstract

The polar tiger moth Pararctia subnebulosa (Dyar 1899) (Erebidae: Arctiinae) is one of the few conspicuous and largest Lepidoptera species in the High Arctic. However, the biology and distribution patterns of this remarkable species have not been sufficiently studied. In the present note, we summarize known data for the species localities, provide DNA barcode data and describe the immature stages and a gregarious parasitoid. The species was collected from Kolguev Island, Arctic European Russia, for the first time. This locality is situated 500 km westward from a previously known species recording in the Yugor Peninsula, which substantiates that P. subnebulosa is also a member of the European fauna. DNA barcode data revealed that the Kolguev specimen shares a close haplotype with those from Chukotka at distance ca. 5,000 km. However, a specimen from Canada has a highly divergent haplotype that indicates that the Russian populations are a separate cryptic species, P. tundrana Tshistjakov 1990. We provide the first data for an assessment of the role of Meteorus parasitoid pressure on the imago abundance of P. subnebulosa. Among 87 moth larvae collected from the Yugor Peninsula, only eight larvae (9.2 %) developed into imagoes, and all of the others (79 ind., 90.8 %) were lost due to parasitoid invasion. DNA barcode data show that this parasitoid is a sister to Meteorus acerbiavorus (Braconidae, Euphorinae). Our findings highlight the existence of multiple cryptic refugia in Beringia and an important role of parasitoids in the suppression of Arctic Lepidoptera populations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. M. G. Golovatin (Russia) and K. Nupponen (Finland) for providing the available information and habitat photographs of the species locality from the river Voikar, Polar Urals. We also express our gratitude to Dr. S. A. Belokobylskij (Russia) and Dr. J. Stigenberg (Sweden) for their valuable advice in the study of the gregarious parasitoid. We would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the editor-in-chief of Polar Biology for their helpful comments on the manuscript. This survey has been supported by Grants from the President of Russia (No. MD–6465.2014.5) and the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (Nos. 12–M–45–2062 and 12–P–5–1014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecological Problems of the North of the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Arkhangelsk, 163000, Russian Federation

    Ivan N. Bolotov, Mikhail Y. Gofarov, Alexander V. Kondakov, Grigory S. Potapov, Natalia A. Zubryi & Vitaliy M. Spitsyn

  2. Institute of Biology of the Komi Scientific Centre of the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, 167982, Russian Federation

    Andrey G. Tatarinov & Oksana I. Kulakova

  3. Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation

    Boris Y. Filippov, Mikhail Y. Gofarov & Vitaliy M. Spitsyn

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  1. Ivan N. Bolotov
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  2. Andrey G. Tatarinov
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  3. Boris Y. Filippov
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  4. Mikhail Y. Gofarov
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  6. Oksana I. Kulakova
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  8. Natalia A. Zubryi
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  9. Vitaliy M. Spitsyn
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Correspondence to Ivan N. Bolotov.

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Bolotov, I.N., Tatarinov, A.G., Filippov, B.Y. et al. The distribution and biology of Pararctia subnebulosa (Dyar, 1899) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), the largest tiger moth species in the High Arctic. Polar Biol 38, 905–911 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1643-2

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