BayCEER Workshop 2019

Contribution to the knowledge on the pattern of species richness and distribution of Mongolian geometrid moths

Introduction

 In Mongolia, there are several endemic species of geometrid moths, e.g. Tephrina kaszabi. However, there is no species checklist or spatial distribution information of Geometridae available, which makes it difficult to investigate species diversity. To fill this knowledge gap, in this study we are 1) providing a checklist of geometrid moth species for Mongolia; 2) analyzing spatial pattern and species richness of geometrid moths; 3) analyzing which environmental variables impact their distribution. 

Material and Methods

 Species occurrence locations of moths in Mongolia were compiled from the literature (1806), mainly from the Russian and Hungarian sources. A total number of 396 moth species have been recorded from 100 geographical locations.

Results

 Northern part of Mongolia was higher in species richness. Summer temperature and summer precipitation were the main environmental variables associated with distribution of geometrid moths. 

Conclusions

 There are still some locations that have not been studied for geometrid moths, especially in southern and western Mongolia.

Moths are pollinators...