Anarta vaciva (Püngeler, 1906)

Anarta vaciva (Püngeler, 1906) View in CoL ( Figs 1–6 View Figures 1-6 )

Discestra vaciva Püngeler, 1906 , Dt. Ent. Z. Iris, 19: 90. Type locality: [ Kazakhstan]: Ili- Gebiet. Types in coll. Püngeler, MfN (Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt Universität), Berlin.

Material examined. RUSSIA: Volgograd Region, 1 ♂, S shore of Elton Lake , 49.0845 o N 46.666 o E, 18.05.2021, S. V. Nedoshivina leg. ( Fig. 1 View Figures 1-6 ), slide No. Matov 0638 ( Figs. 5, 6 View Figures 1-6 ) (collection of the Zoological GoogleMaps

Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences – further ZISP ); Novosibirsk region, 1 ♂, Chistoozyorny District , Polyanovo, 54 o 31’40.49” N 75 o 53’14.27 E, 11.06.2022, V. V GoogleMaps . Ivonin leg. ( Fig. 2 View Figures 1-6 ) (private collection of V. V. Ivonin, Novosibirsk); KAZAKHSTAN: 1 ♂, Ili, M. Bartel leg. ( ZISP); 6 ♂, [ Almaty Region, Balkhash District], Topar , 8– 11.07.1986, A. Kondratiev leg. ( Fig. 3 View Figures 1-6 ), genitalia preparation in glycerine by A. V . Nekrasov Nos. 1794, 1794а, 1794б and 1974в ( ZISP) .

Bionomics. In Novosibirsk Region the specimen was collected in saline steppe with Stipa , Phlomis and Goniolimon near the lake Solyonoye in the vicinity of Polyanovo Village ( Fig. 8 View Figure 8 ). The specimen came at light of a mercury vapour bulb near midnight at a temperature +15+17 oC. The species composition that night was represented by the following species: Cucullia mixta (Freyer, 1841) , Anarta stigmosa (Christoph, 1887) , Anarta trifolii (Hufnagel, 1766) and Sideridis lampra (Schawerda, 1913) . In Volgograd Region A. vaciva was collected in the saline steppe on the south shore of the salt lake Elton ( Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ), wich is the largest salt lake in Europe. The specimen came to light in the evening during the storm with strong winds and rain.

Distribution. European part of Russia ( Volgograd Region), south of West Siberia ( Novosibirsk Region), Northeast and Southeast Kazakhstan ( Fig. 9 View Figure 9 ).

Discussion. For a long time A. vaciva was considered to be endemic to Central Asia and was known only from the territory of Southeast Kazakhstan ( Hacker 1998). Only recently it was also found in Northeast Kazakhstan – in the Pavlodar region ( Titov et al. 2017). Our data allow us to extend the known boundaries of the distribution of A. vaciva to Siberia ( Novosibirsk Region) and South-East Europe ( Volgograd Region). The new findings were presumably not caused by the expansion of the range of this species, but are a result of a closer study of the fauna of salt marshes, steppes and semi-deserts of the southern regions of Russia, from which further faunistic discoveries of Lepidoptera are very possible. We assume that this species also occurs in other regions of North Kazakhstan. A specimen from the Novosibirsk region ( Fig. 2 View Figures 1-6 ) has a more variegated colour of the forewings than the specimens from SE Kazakhstan ( Fig. 3 View Figures 1-6 ) but so far, we cannot be sure that this is typical of the Siberian population. A specimen from North-Eastern Kazakhstan ( Fig. 4 View Figures 1-6 ) has a colouration transitional between the specimens from Novosibirsk Region and South-Eastern Kazakhstan.