A Russian scientist from MISIS University of Science and Technology worked with colleagues from Vilnius and Barnaul to identify a new species of ribbon butterfly in the erebid family while reviewing the ebid collection housed in the World Insect Gallery. The team named the species Catocala duda and documented its presence in the northwestern Chinese province of Yunnan. This discovery was shared with socialbites.ca via MISIS, which provided the original report.
During their examination, researchers first cataloged two specimens as Catocala lara. Catocala lara is a prominent, broad-winged butterfly commonly seen in deciduous forests across the Russian Far East, Korea, Japan, and portions of China. However, careful study of the wing patterns, coloration, and detailed morphology revealed that these individuals belonged to a species previously unknown to science.
An additional clear specimen emerged from the research collection of Sergei Didenko, who heads the Department of Semiconductor Electronics and Semiconductor Physics at MISIS. His team carried out a thorough comparison of wing coloration and the structures of the external organs, which showed notable differences from Catocala lara. The researchers concluded that these butterflies represent a new species for science and assigned them the name Catocala duda, recognizing the World Insect Gallery in Joniskis in the process. The naming honors Juozas Duda, a founder and director associated with Lepidopterology, the study of butterflies. Didenko reflects that butterfly studies have been a long-standing hobby as well as a field of active collaboration with colleagues over the years. One expedition led to the identification of a newly described Catocala taxon that subsequently carried his name as part of the formal description, a testament to the teamwork involved in the discovery.
In appearance, Catocala duda resembles Catocala lara, particularly the larger and broader-winged southern subspecies Catocala lara pallidamajor. Yet Catocala duda can be distinguished by its larger overall size, a wider front wing, and the presence of a single black spot on the distal margin. The hind wing region displays five distinct vein spots that are consistent across observations. The anterior wing length measures between 41 and 45 millimeters in Catocala duda. The primary coloration is gray with a brown overcoat, and the abdomen presents a gray base with a mix of brown and whitish scales. These morphological markers helped confirm the new species status rather than a regional variation of Catocala lara.
Previous work by the same team had already led to the description of additional butterfly species. Notably, Catocala katsumii was identified from the Indochina Peninsula, and Alphaea stanislava was described within the erebid family. These prior discoveries underscore the ongoing effort to document lepidopteran diversity in the region and the value of revisiting existing collections to reveal hidden diversity. The authors emphasize that rigorous comparative analysis, including wing pattern, wing shape, and anatomical features, is essential to differentiate closely related species and to build a reliable taxonomy for the group. The Catocala duda description adds to the growing catalog of western Asia and East Asia butterflies and highlights the importance of museum collections in informing science and conservation efforts. These findings also illustrate the role of international collaboration in modern taxonomy, with researchers from multiple institutions contributing to a single, coherent species account that can be referenced by future studies and field surveys. Citations to the World Insect Gallery and to MISIS internal records provide the documented basis for the description and offer pathways for researchers to verify the type material and comparative specimens in public and private collections.