An annotated checklist of the Pyralidae of the region of Murcia (Spain) with new records, distribution and biological data (Lepidoptera, Pyraloidea, Pyralidae)

Abstract Background The Murcia Region (south-eastern Iberian Peninsula) has a great diversity of Lepidopteran fauna, as a zoogeographical crossroads and biodiversity hotspot with more than 850 butterflies and moth species recorded. New information In the present paper, based on an examination of museum specimens, published records and new samples, a comprehensive and critical species list of Pyralidae moths (Lepidoptera, Pyraloidea) is synthesised. In total, three subfamilies, 67 genera and 142 species have been recorded and these are listed, along with their collection, literature references and biological data, including chorotype, voltinism and the flight period in the study area. The subfamilies are Galleriinae, Phycitinae and Pyralinae. Seventy-three species are newly recorded, sixty-two species are confirmed from literature and only seven species have not been observed for the Murcia Region.


Introduction
The Pyralidae, belonging to the superfamily Pyraloidea, are mainly nocturnal micromoths (Microlepidoptera) with an estimated 6,000 named species worldwide, of which the European fauna is represented by ca. 470 species (Leraut 2014). In the Iberian Peninsula, 262 species have been recorded (Vives-Moreno 2014). The two main evolutionary lineages within Pyraloidea, Pyralidae and Crambidae, are monophyletically distinguished by the morphology of tympanal organs (Minet 1982, Minet 1983, Slamka 2006. Pyralidae are characterised by the forewing venation with R5 stalked or fused with R3+4 and without oval sclerotisation costad on the base of vein A; presence of paired tympanal organs situated ventrally in the second abdominal segment with tympanum and conjunctivum in the same plane; tympanal chamber cephalad closed and accessory tympana absent in metathorax; lobulus and praecinctorium are absent; male genitalia with uncus arms; and segment A8 of larvae almost always with sclerotised ring around base of seta SD1 (Goater et al. 2005, Slamka 2006).
The Region of Murcia has a great diversity of Lepidopteran fauna, as a zoogeographical crossroads and biodiversity hotspot, with more than 850 butterfly and moth species (Ortiz et al. 2016, unpublished data). The summary ecophysiological characterisation of the study area can be consulted in Garre et al. (2021).
Considering various bioclimatic approaches relative to temperature (thermotypes) and rainfall (ombrotypes), four different bioclimatic areas can be recognised according to Alcaraz et al. (2008): thermo-, meso-, supra-and oromediterranean (Fig. 1). Climatic and geological interactions differentiate a great variety of habitats as thermoxerophylic on the sunny slopes of the mountains and, on the other hand, as mesophylic in depressions or very dark exposures, in riparian zones amongst halophytic vegetation and on sandbanks and dunes from the inland to the coastal areas along with agricultural crops and anthropophilic areas. Altogether, they make up ten habitats and 47 special terrestrial conservation areas of community importance (Alcaraz et al. 2008).
This present checklist is intended to update the recorded species and to facilitate access to the most recent data on the Pyralidae family from the Murcia Region (south-eastern Iberian Peninsula) for taxonomists providing data about distribution, chorology, phenology and voltinism.

Materials and methods
Adult specimens were examined externally and the genitalia structures were dissected using standard procedures (Leraut 2014) with minor modifications with the use of DMHF (2,5-Dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone). Roesler (1973), Slamka (2006, Leraut (2014) and Slamka (2019) were consulted mainly for identifications. Alpha diversity Simpson (Simpson 1949) and Chao1 ( Chao 1984) indices, applied to abundance data on 136 species collected, were calculated in PAST software v. 4.0.9 (Hammer et al. 2001). The list contains all species of Pyralidae collected by the authors until the end of 2021, along with the material deposited in the private collections of J.A. de la Calle, F. Lencina, F. Albert and F. Arcas. It also includes all of those records previously referenced in the bibliography.
Black and actinic (6 and 15 W) Heath traps, 125 W Robinson traps, 125 W mercury vapour traps and 4 W LED light traps were used for nocturnal sampling. Catches taken during daytime and in the urban environment (street lighting) are also included. All these sampling points are located within the study area and, especially, in the natural protected areas like the mountainous Parks of Sierra Espuña, Sierra de la Pila, El Valle and Carrascoy etc. and the coastal Parks of Calblanque, Monte de las Cenizas and Peña del Águila, Salinas and Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar, etc.

Notes on the checklist
The subfamilies are systematically ordered and identified, based on the most recent classification of Pyralidae by Nuss et al. (2021), Vives-Moreno (2014) and Slamka (2019) with minor modifications. The genera and species are listed under their subfamilies and are also ordered systematically, together with collection data (sampling localities, altitude, decimal coordinates, date and number of specimens). In addition, for each species, related references and biological data are provided, including general chorotypes and Iberian endemism, voltinism based on literature and the flight period in the study area or nearby areas indicated by months in Roman numerals. All studied specimens are deposited in the entomological collection in the Zoology Department of Murcia University (Spain) and in the collections of Francisco Lencina, Fernando Albert and Francisco Arcas. The occurrence data can be accessed at DOI:https://doi.org/10.15470/a6fcav Roesler (1973), Slamka (2006), Leraut (2014) and Slamka (2019) were consulted to obtain the information on biology, voltinism and geographical distribution of the species, while Calle (1982) and Varga (2010) were consulted for biogeographic criteria. The voltinism of some species is unknown and data in text have been made, based on our observations in the study area.
The most species-rich subfamily, Phycitinae, comprises 77.6% of all genera and 75.3% of all species, while Pyralinae comprise 14.9% and 19.1% and Galleriinae with 7.5% and 5.6%, respectively (Table 1). Alpha diversity indices applied to abundance data (2683 individuals of 136 species collected) showed a low dominance value of 0.96 (all taxa are equally present) and a Chao1 estimate of total species richness amongst 140 species (lower value) to 165.5 species (upper value) which is close to 142 species studied and foresees the addition of new species in the future.
Known Pyralidae diversity in the Murcia Region seem relatively rich when compared to those in other Iberian Regions and with the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, as for instance, similar Iberian Regions extensively surveyed like Catalonia (172 species; Dantart 2020) and Aragon (163 species; Redondo et al. 2017). This may be because intensive surveys have started only recently or because the biodiversity is greater closer to the temperate areas. However, we are sure that an increase in the sampling effort will allow adding new species to the of Pyralidae checklist from the Murcia Region.
Species richness varies substantially amongst the different bioclimatic areas of the Murcia Region (Fig. 1). The Thermomediterranean area has the most diverse Pyralidae fauna with 116 species recorded, followed by the Mesomediterranean area with 73 species, while the Supra-and Oromediteranean areas appear to be less diverse with 39 species (Table 2). In each of these areas, 54 species are unique in the Thermo-, 10 in Meso-and four in Supraand Oromediterranean areas, while 41 species were recorded in two areas and 26 in the three studied areas. Approximately 47.8% of the species can be considered specialists in a given bioclimatic area, while the other 52.2% can be considered as opportunists of different types of vegetation that characterise each of the bioclimatic areas. The detailed data for the bioclimatic areas of Pyralidae in the Murcia Region are summarised in Table 2  List of unique species in each bioclimatic area or in more than one bioclimatic area. Some taxa cited in the references have been removed from the checklist as Epischnia muscidella Ragonot, cited in Caradja (1916), because it is distributed in Turkey (Leraut 2014); Hypotia syrtalis (Ragonot) also cited in Caradja (1916)

Discussion
Prior to our investigation, the number of known Pyralidae moth species in the Murcia Region was 69. Our study increases this number to a total of 142, based on an examination of museum specimens, published records and sampled individuals, accounting for 54.1% of all of the Iberian species known. This study presents an updated checklist of current Pyralidae moth species with their distribution and biological information for the Murcia Region in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula.
This study serves as both a guide for collection in the poorly sampled south-western European continent and a comprehensive reference list with the Pyralidae taxa and localities where conservation is an important priority for policy-makers, conservation planners and for the management of insect diversity in Spain.
We encourage lepidopterists holding additional data on systematically collected pyralids to produce an updated dataset. Additionally, new intensive surveys in adjacent regions are being conducted and unknown specimens are continuously identified to species level.