Watsonarctia

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Cladus: Macroheterocera
Superfamilia: Noctuoidea

Familia: Erebidae
Subfamilia: Arctiinae
Tribus: Arctiini
Subtribus: Spilosomina
Genus: Watsonarctia
Species: W. deserta
Name

Watsonarctia de Freina & Witt, 1984 (5.Nov. 1984)

Type-species: Arctia deserta Bartel, 1902
Synonyms

Eurachia Dubatolov, 1985 (February). Type species: Arctia deserta Bartel, 1902
Eucastana Leraut, 1985. Type species: Arctia deserta Bartel, 1902

Watsonarctia deserta

References

Dubatolov, V.V., 1985: Tiger moths (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) of South Siberian mountains. Report 1. In: Arthropods from Siberia and Far East: 134–159, Nauka, Siberian Department: Novosibirsk. (Series “Fauna of Siberia”) (in Russian).
de Freina, Josef J. & Thomas J. Witt, 1984, Taxonomische veränderungen bei den Bombyces und Sphinges Europas und Nordwestafrikas. Zwei neue Arctiidaegattungen für den Westpaläarktischen faunenbereich: Watsonarctia gen. n. und Maurica gen. n. (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae), Entomofauna 5 (28): 323–334.
Leraut, P., 1985: Eucastana nomen. nov. pour Eucharia au sens des auteurs (Lep. Arctiidae). Linneana Belgica 10: 43, Bruxelles.
Witt, T.J. & Ronkay, L. (Eds.) 2011. Noctuidae Europaeae. Volume 13. Lymantriinae and Arctiinae, including phylogeny and check list of the quadrifid Noctuoidea of Europe. Entomological Press, Sorø, 448 pp. ISBN 978-87-89430-18-8. Reference page.

Watsonarctia is a monotypic moth genus in the subfamily Arctiinae erected by Josef J. de Freina and Thomas Joseph Witt in 1984. Its only species, Watsonarctia deserta, the chaste pellicle, was first described by Max Bartel in 1902.[1] It is found in central and south-eastern Europe, southern Russia, southern Siberia east to Lake Baikal; also in Asia Minor, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan and Xinjiang in China.[2]

The wingspan is 26–32 mm.

The larvae feed on Asperula, Achillea and Galium species (including Galium verum and Galium odoratum).
Subspecies

Watsonarctia deserta deserta (Bartel, 1902) (southern and central Europe, Caucasus, north-western Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, northern Mongolia)
Watsonarctia deserta karduchena (de Freina, 1983) (Anatolia)
Watsonarctia deserta centralasiae (O. Bang-Haas, 1927) (mountains of eastern Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, eastern Tien Shan)
Watsonarctia deserta elbursica Dubatolov & Zahiri, 2005 (northern Iran)

References

Mazzei, Paolo; Morel, Daniel & Panfili, Raniero "Watsonarctia deserta (Bartel, 1902)". Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
Savela, Markku. "Watsonarctia de Freina & Witt, 1984". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved September 29, 2019.