Even hotter hotspot: description of seven new species of many-plumed moths (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae) from Mount Cameroon

Peter Ustjuzhanin; Vasily Kovtunovich; Vincent Maicher; Szabolcs Sáfián; Sylvain Delabye; Alexander Streltzov; Robert Tropek

doi:10.3897/zookeys.935.49843

Even hotter hotspot: description of seven new species of many-plumed moths (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae) from Mount Cameroon

Zookeys. 2020 May 21:935:103-119. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.935.49843. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Peter Ustjuzhanin^{1

2}, Vasily Kovtunovich³, Vincent Maicher^{4

5

6}, Szabolcs Sáfián^{5

7}, Sylvain Delabye^{4

5}, Alexander Streltzov⁸, Robert Tropek^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Altai State University, Lenina 61, Barnaul, RU-656049, Russia.
² Biological Institute, Tomsk State University, Lenina Prospekt 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia.
³ Moscow Society of Nature Explorers, Bolshaya Nikitskaya 2, Moscow, RU-125009, Russia.
⁴ Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
⁵ Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
⁶ Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844 Prague, Czech Republic.
⁷ Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky u. 4. H-9945 Sopron, Hungary.
⁸ Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 48, Moika Emb., Saint-Petersburg, 191186, Russia.

Abstract

Mount Cameroon, SW Cameroon, has already been described as a unique hotspot of the many-plumed moth (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae), with their local diversity unrivalled in the entire Afrotropics. We confirm its importance with description of seven new species: Alucita bakweri Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita jana Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita bakingili Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita tatjana Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita zuza Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita deja Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., and Alucita bokwango Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. These descriptions have raised the known local diversity of many-plumed moth species on Mount Cameroon to 22, i.e., over a quarter of the known Afrotropical biodiversity of this group. This study also emphasises the great conservation importance of the area.

Keywords: Alucita; Afrotropics; biodiversity; endemic; insects; microlepidoptera; taxonomy; tropical rainforest.

Peter Ustjuzhanin, Vasily Kovtunovich, Vincent Maicher, Szabolcs Sáfián, Sylvain Delabye, Alexander Streltzov, Robert Tropek.