On the distribution of broad-winged moths (Lepidoptera, Oecophoridae) of the Palaearctic fauna

Abstract

The Palaearctic fauna of broad-winged moths (Oecophoridae with the subfamilies Oecophorinae, Pleurotinae, and Deuterogoniinae) comprises 47 genera and 329 species. The number of species rapidly increases from north to south, from 19 species in the Euro-Siberian taiga Region to 149 in the Mediterranean Region, but the Scythian steppe Region (30 species) and Sethian desert Region (49 species) have relatively poor faunas because the majority of oecophorid species are trophically associated with arboreal plants. The proper desert species are very rare among Oecophoridae moths, and the majority of species in the Sethian desert Region occur in the mountains. The number of endemic species is also greater in southern regions; it amounts for more than half of the total number of species in the Hesperian and Orthrian evergreen forest regions and in the Sethian desert Region. The faunas of European (62 species) and Far Eastern (67 species) deciduous forests comprise close numbers of species but are very different, having only 5 species in common. This fact indicates their long isolation. The Oecophoridae are represented in the Palaearctic mainly by the genera with a small number of species, except for 2 genera, Pleurota (100 species) and Promalactis (85 species). The distribution patterns of these genera are opposite: the species of Pleurota are numerous in the south of West Europe and in North Africa, their number quickly decreasing from west to east and only 2 species being present in China (Wang, 2006). The species of Promalactis are numerous in Southeast Asia, their number quickly decreasing from east to west: 3 species occur in Tibet and only 1, P. splendidella (Amsel, 1935), in Israel and Turkey.