Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) collection of the I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine

Study Extent

The dataset contains the biodata of Tortricidae collection is kept in the funds of I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine (SIZK_Tortricidae). All specimens are pinned with entomological pins and minutiae. Prepared chitinized genital structures of males and females are stored in special plastic tubes in a mixture of alcohol and glycerin. Tortricidae collection of SIZK covers the territory of sixteen regions of Ukraine (Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Volyn, Zakarpatska, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr Oblasts) and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and various habitat types both natural and anthropogenic. Some specimens were collected in countries the former Soviet Union, such as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russian Federation. The specimens presented in the collection were collected between 1916 and 2016. Identification of all species in the dataset was verified by comparison with the voucher specimens and confirmed by the leading taxonomists of Tortricidae.

Sampling

The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea. Many of these are economically important pests. The typical resting posture is with the wings folded back, producing a rather rounded profile. Larvae in the subfamilies Chlidanotinae and Olethreutinae usually feed by boring into stems, roots, buds, or seeds. Larvae in the subfamily Tortricinae, however, feed externally and construct leaf rolls. Larvae in the subfamily Tortricinae tend to be more polyphagous than those in Chlidanotinae and Olethreutinae. Tortricinae also possess an anal fork for flicking excrement away from their shelters. The material was collected in a number of expeditions and excursions carried out during the field seasons of the years 1916-2016 in various habitat types both natural and anthropogenic. Adult tortrix moths was observed and collected via daytime catching by a net, attracting by light (250 W and 500 W mercury arc lamps, in rare cases also incandescent lamps). The caught specimens were placed in individual test tubes, which were closed with a cotton swab and put to death with ethyl acetate. After the excursions, the best collected specimens were pricked on entomological pins (No. 000 and No. 00) or on minutiae, and part of the material was laid out on cotton layers. When catching light, tortrix moths that landed on a white screen were collected in test tubes, put to death and mounted immediately after catching. When inspecting tree trunks, walls of houses, fences, etc., tortrix moths sitting on them were caught with test tubes or stain. The determination of the material was carried out mainly by Kuznetzov (1978), Razowski (2002, 2003) Lepiforum (2021) and was verified by comparison with the voucher specimens by Yu. Kostiuk collection of tortrix moths of National Museum of Natural History at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv). In difficult cases, the determination was made by genitalia prepared by maceration in 8–12% NaOH or KOH solution. Prepared chitinized genital structures of males and females are stored in special plastic tubes in a mixture of alcohol and glycerin. For identification, specimens were studied with MBS-10 and Zeiss Stemi-200 C microscopes. All of the material is kept in the funds of I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv (SIZK) as a separate Tortricidae collection.

Quality Control

One of the most important steps in Tortricidae studying is verifying of correction of specimen identification. Therefore, all newly recorded species in Ukraine or new species in our collection need to be compared with the type specimen or at least the voucher specimen whose identification is undoubted. Also, we were using the OpenRefine (https://openrefine.org/) for checking the data quality and GBIF species matching tool (https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup) for the taxonomic checking opensource software.

Method steps

1. Selection of the sites.
2. Collection of material in the field.
3. Slides preparation in the laboratory.
4. Specimen identification.
5. Verifying the newly recorded species by comparison with voucher specimens during the workshop.
6. Cataloging identified specimens and dataset preparation.
7. Data checking and cleaning.
8. Publication biodata on the GBIF.

The dataset covers only the species range of the Tortricidae family.

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
3. Insecta
   rank: class
4. Lepidoptera
   rank: order
5. Tortricidae
   rank: family

The dataset covers the territory of sixteen regions of Ukraine (Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Volyn, Zakarpatska, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr Oblasts) and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Also, collections from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russian Federation are included in this dataset.