Antheraea ridlyi siriae Paukstadt & van Schayck, 2022

Antheraea ridlyi siriae Paukstadt & van Schayck, 2022 comb. nov. & stat. rev.

Figs 8I–J View Figure 8 , 19E–F View Figure 19

Material examined. LAOS: Attopu Province , tropical forest, 14°44'08"N, 107°29'17"E, 10– 17.07.2023, E. Spitsyna & V. Spitsyn leg. – 8♂ GoogleMaps .

Distribution in Laos. Bolikhamxai Province ( Paukstadt & van Schayck 2022) and Attopu Province (this study).

Remarks. (1) The second record from Laos. (2) It should be noted that this taxon cannot be considered as a separate species. It has a COI p -distance of 2.79–3.49% from Antheraea larissa (Westwood, 1847) endemic to Java (the record from the south of Kalimantan mentioned in Paukstadt & van Schayck’s work (2022) requires confirmation), whereas COI p -distance from populations inhabiting Sumatra, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula is 1.22–2.44%. Antheraea ridlyi Moore, 1892 stat. rev. [TL: N. Borneo] is the oldest available name applied to these populations. Taking into account insignificant morphological differences, minimum genetic distance of 1.22%, and disjunct distribution, the Indochinese taxon should be considered as a separate subspecies, Antheraea ridlyi siriae Paukstadt & van Schayck, 2022 comb. nov. & stat. rev. The subspecies differs from the nominate one by 5 fixed nucleotide substitutions in the COI gene fragment. (3) COI p -distance between A. ridlyi stat. rev. and A. larissa is 2.27–3.49%. Hence, A. ridlyi stat. rev. should be considered as a valid species and not as a synonym or subspecies of A. larissa . (4) Since Antheraea larissa palawarissa Brechlin, 2014 is phylogenetically close to A. ridlyi stat. rev. (minimum COI p -distance between them is 0.68%), it is considered here as a subspecies of the latter — Antheraea ridlyi palawarissa Brechlin, 2014 comb. nov.

Reference COI barcode sequences. GenBank acc. no. PV069507, PV069508.