Discovery of Amphipyra meifengensis Chen, Speidel, Buchsbaum and Behounek, 2013 from Japan with brief taxonomic notes of Amphipyra pyramidea group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Amphipyrinae)

Abstract

Amphipyra meifengensis Chen, Speidel, Buchsbaum, and Behounek, 2013 is recently resurrected from a junior subjective synonym of Amphipyra surnia Felder and Rogenhofer, 1874 by Ronkay et al. (2024). In this paper, the species is recorded from Japan for the first time based on their morphologies and DNA barcoding using extensive specimens collected from Japan and Taiwan. Amphipyra meifengensis is widely distributed through the Kanto to Kyushu district in Japan, and the distributions of the species and its close relatives, A. surnia, Amphipyra horiei Owada, 1996 and Amphipyra pyramidea (Linnaeus, 1758) are overlapping in these regions. A. pyramidea group has still taxonomic problems, therefore further comprehensive studies based on many specimens collected from mainly East Asia will be necessary.