Pavel Potocký

A new subfamily of bagworm moths is described: Tenuipsychinae subfam. nov., to accompany the new genus Tenuipsyche gen. nov. and 2 new species, Tenuipsyche davisi sp. nov., and Tenuipsyche nishidai sp. nov., based on unique and unusual morphology, biology, and their phylogenetic position inferred via phylogenomic analysis of 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes and 3 nuclear markers. The biology is highly distinctive in that the fungal-feeding larvae construct long, narrow bags permanently affixed to a substrate, rendering them sessile, a very unusual condition among the Psychidae. Furthermore, the genera Antillonatus, Acoremata, Guttulapsyche, and Lamyristis are transferred to Tenuipsychinae due to shared adult morphology. Species in the subfamily have winged female forms and appear to occur on most continents across the world within tropical and subtropical areas where many undescribed taxa are known. Phylogenetic analysis confirms that Tenuipsychinae is a monophyletic subfamily which forms a sister clade to the previously described female winged subfamilies Arrhenophaninae and Pseudarbelinae.

Tropical savannahs experience pronounced seasonality, especially in rainfall and temperature, shaping plant productivity and resource availability. Yet, temporal patterns in insect diversity remain poorly understood. We investigated seasonal variation in species richness and community composition of moths (herbivores) and mantises (predators) across four main landsystems in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Using light traps during early and late wet seasons, we captured 65 593 moths (817 morphospecies) and 3511 mantises (38 morphospecies). Species richness of both groups significantly increased from the early to the late wet season, particularly in the wetter southern landsystems, likely driven by rainfall‐enhanced resource availability and habitat complexity. Community composition varied seasonally and among landsystems, with moths primarily influenced by seasonal changes, whereas mantises responded more strongly to landsystem differences. Our results indicate that rainfall‐driven seasonal resource variability is a key determinant of insect phenological patterns in tropical savannahs. Predicted shifts in rainfall patterns due to climate change may alter insect emergence timing and trophic interactions, highlighting the importance of incorporating seasonal dynamics into biodiversity conservation and management strategies.

We present a genome assembly from a female specimen of Malacosoma alpicola (Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Lasiocampidae). The assembly contains two haplotypes with total lengths of 572.73 megabases and 530.23 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (98.92%) is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. Haplotype 2 was assembled to scaffold level. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 16.7 kilobases.

Sex chromatin is a conspicuous body that occurs in polyploid nuclei of most lepidopteran females and consists of numerous copies of the W sex chromosome. It is also a cytogenetic tool used to rapidly assess the W chromosome presence in Lepidoptera. However, certain chromosomal features could disrupt the formation of sex chromatin and lead to the false conclusion that the W chromosome is absent in the respective species. Here we tested the sex chromatin presence in 50 species of Geometridae. In eight selected species with either missing, atypical, or normal sex chromatin patterns, we performed a detailed karyotype analysis by means of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The results showed a high diversity of W chromosomes and clarified the reasons for atypical sex chromatin, including the absence or poor differentiation of W, rearrangements leading to the neo-W emergence, possible association with the nucleolus, and the existence of multiple W chromosomes. In two species, we detected intraspecific variability in the sex chromatin status and sex chromosome constitution. We show that the sex chromatin is not a sufficient marker of the W chromosome presence, but it may be an excellent tool to pinpoint species with atypical sex chromosomes.

Moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) are the largest group with heterogametic females. Although the ancestral sex chromosome system is probably Z0/ZZ, most lepidopteran species have the W chromosome. When and how the W chromosome arose remains elusive. Existing hypotheses place the W origin either at the common ancestor of Ditrysia and Tischeriidae, or prefer independent origins of W chromosomes in these two groups. Due to their phylogenetic position at the base of Ditrysia, bagworms (Psychidae) play an important role in investigating the W chromosome origin. Therefore, we examined the W chromosome status in three Psychidae species, namely Proutia betulina, Taleporia tubulosa, and Diplodoma laichartingella, using both classical and molecular cytogenetic methods such as sex chromatin assay, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), and male vs. female genome size comparison by flow cytometry. In females of all three species, no sex chromatin was found, no female-specific chromosome regions were revealed by CGH, and a Z-chromosome univalent was observed in pachytene oocytes. In addition, the genome size of females was significantly smaller than males. Overall, our study provides strong evidence for the absence of the W chromosome in Psychidae, thus supporting the hypothesis of two independent W chromosome origins in Tischeriidae and in advanced Ditrysia.

Aim: Temporal dynamics of biodiversity along tropical elevational gradients are unknown. We studied seasonal changes of Lepidoptera biodiversity along the only complete forest elevational gradient in the Afrotropics. We focused on shifts of species richness patterns, seasonal turnover of communities and seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges, the latter often serving as an indicator of the global change effects on mountain ecosystems.Location: Mount Cameroon, Cameroon.Taxon: Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera).Methods: We quantitatively sampled nine groups of Lepidoptera by bait‐trapping (16,800 trap‐days) and light‐catching (126 nights) at seven elevations evenly distributed along the elevational gradient from sea level (30 m a.s.l.) to timberline (2,200 m a.s.l.). Sampling was repeated in three seasons.Results: Altogether, 42,936 specimens of 1,099 species were recorded. A mid‐elevation peak of species richness was detected for all groups but Eupterotidae. This peak shifted seasonally for five groups, most of them ascending during the dry season. Seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges were mostly responsible for these diversity pattern shifts along elevation: we found general upward shifts in fruit‐feeding butterflies, fruit‐feeding moths and Lymantriinae from beginning to end of the dry season. Contrarily, Arctiinae shifted upwards during the wet season. The average seasonal shifts of elevational ranges often exceeded 100 m and were even several times higher for numerous species.Main conclusions: We report seasonal uphill and downhill shifts of several lepidopteran groups. The reported shifts can be driven by both delay in weather seasonality and shifts in resource availability, causing phenological delay of adult hatching and/or adult migrations. Such shifts may lead to misinterpretations of diversity patterns along elevation if seasonality is ignored. More importantly, considering the surprising extent of seasonal elevational shifts of species, we encourage taking account of such natural temporal dynamics while investigating the global climate change impact on communities of Lepidoptera in tropical mountains.

Analysing faunal changes using life‐history traits ( LHT ) represents a promising venue in community ecology. We prepared traits table for 1234 species of Central European macro‐moths (Lepidoptera), a species‐rich insect group rather neglected by LHT analyses. Table of 27 LHT s, split into 44 trait states, was subjected to ordination analyses, aiming to disclose the main gradients in the traits’ covariance organising the regional fauna. The main ordination gradient was related to habitats. It contrasted large‐ranging, tree foliage feeding and large‐winged species of humid and wooded habitats from small, trophic specialists feeding on reproductive plants parts and inhabiting non‐wooded, xeric habitats. This gradient sustained control for phylogeny, as well as omission of habitats‐ and biogeography‐related traits from the analyses. The secondary gradient, perpendicular to the former, distinguished multivoltine and univoltine species, the former often mobile and having a long adult period. Two minor gradients were related to defences/seasonality and to adult diurnal activity. The habitats and voltinism gradients predicted current commonness and red‐list status of individual species reasonably well. Life histories are linked to habitat use, commonness and threat levels of individual moths species in Central Europe. The overhelming importance of habitat association mirrors the diversity of habitats used by Central European moths. Species of closed woodlands tend to be more common and less threatened than species of rarer grassland types; multivoltine and mobile species are least threatened. The compiled LHT table will be of use for further conservation‐oriented analyses of the moths communities.