Eupithecia zekiyae explained

Eupithecia zekiyae is a species of moth in the family Geometridae first described by McDunnough (1946), although the authorship of the currently valid species name is Koçak, 1986 (see taxonomy).

Description

The wingspan is about 22–23 mm. Adults have been recorded on wing from January to March.

Range

Moths of this family are found in the desert regions of the south-western United States, including Arizona, Nevada and California.^[1]

Taxonomy

The species was initially described in Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Eupitheciini as Eupithecia deserticola McDunnough 1946.^[2] The name entered into some electronic databases in this combination.^[3] However, due to earlier use by Eupithecia deserticola Turati (1934)^[4] as a different species from Libya, the name combination was then considered preoccupied for nomenclature. This led Clifford D. Ferris and Vladimir G. Mironov (2007)^[5] establish Eupithecia jamesi Ferris & Mironov, 2007 as a replacement name making E. deserticola McDunnough a junior secondary homonym. However, Kemel & Koçak (2016)^[6] clarify that a replacement name had already been previously published as Eupithecia zekiyae Koçak, 1986.^[7] They treated Eupithecia jamesi Ferris & Mironov, 2007 as junior objective synonym of E. zekiyae Koçak, 1986, but can be more simply viewed as a superfluous replacement name. However, as of Aug. 2023, some websites continue to report the species under E. jamesi ^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Eupithecia zekiyae . iNaturalist. 2023-08-16. en.
2. McDunnough. J.H.. James Halliday McDunnough. 1949. Revision of the North American species of the genus Eupithecia (Lepidoptera, Geometridae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 93. 533–728. 2013-03-22. 2013-10-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195738/http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/zeeb/leprefs/B093a08.pdf. dead.
3. Web site: Yu . Dicky Sick Ki . Eupithecia Curtis 1825 . Home of Ichneumonoidea . Taxapad . https://web.archive.org/web/20180811031951/http://www.taxapad.com/local.php?taxonidLC=82838474 . August 11, 2018.
4. Turati. E.. 1934. Novità di Lepidopterologia in Cirenaica. iv. . Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano. 73. 159–212. en.
5. Ferris. C.D.. Mironov. V.D.. 2007-10-26. Replacement name for Eupithecia deserticola (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Eupitheciini). The Canadian Entomologist. 139. 1. 131–132. 10.4039/n06-067. en.
6. Kemal. M.. Koçak. A.Ö.. 2016. Nomenclatural notes on the genus Eupithecia Curtis (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).. Cent. Ent. Stud., Misc. Pap.. 161. 17–18. en.
7. Koçak. A.Ö.. 1986. More notes on the homonymy of the specific names of Lepidoptera. Priamus. 4. 1/2. 55–60. en.
8. Web site: Eupithecia jamesi Ferris & Mironov, 2007. North American Moth Photographers Group . Mississippi State University . August 16, 2023.