ASU entomologists discovered a new butterfly species in Europe

European fauna and flora are studied in detail. This is why discoveries of new animals or plants cause a sensation.

Three years ago Professor of the Department of Ecology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Doctor of Biology Roman V. Yakovlev learned about discovery of a butterfly of Stygiodes genus in Central Italy in 2002 from his Italian colleagues. These butterflies are known to inhabit Turkey, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia and South Povolzhye, but not Western Europe. The find aroused much interest among European entomologists, but the sample was sent to R.V. Yakovlev for further research.

After studying morphology and taxonomy of the genus, the scientist came to the conclusion that the sample belongs to a completely new species. The work took a lot of time, as describing a new European species is a very important and challenging task, which requires a lot of responsibility. Besides, R.V. Yakovlev needed to analyze rich body of literature. The article on the new butterfly species was published in December in Russian Entomological Journal that is listed in Scopus.

“The discovery of a rare species in Europe, that is new for science, is sensational. We had to analyze old literature and look up information in very rare books and journals, which was quite challenging. Interestingly, Italian and French entomologists saw these butterflies in different regions of Southern Europe in 1893–1927, but the materials have not survived to the present days. The only sample discovered by Italian entomologist P. Mazzei has become a key to understanding this species. It is unbelievable. Europe is a part of the world that is thoroughly studied in terms of biological diversity, but we have found this butterfly. We gave it a very simple name – Stygioides italica. Usually I don’t experience any special emptions when my articles are published, but it is a completely different situation,” said Roman V. Yakovlev.