Carried with the wind: mass occurrence of Zeiraphera griseana (Hübner, 1799) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) on Vize Island (Russian High Arctic)

• Published in: Nota Lepidopterologica
• Main Authors: Maria V. Gavrilo, Igor I. Chupin, Mikhail V. Kozlov
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 2021
• Subjects: Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Arctic; Kara Sea; Vize
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.44.63662; https://doaj.org/article/ac5f099fb0f943eab328e00dba67e0a0

Vize Island, located in the northern part of the Kara Sea (79°30’N, 76°59’E), is one of the least studied islands of the Russian High Arctic in terms of its biota. Hundreds of live and freshly dead individuals of Larch Budmoth Zeiraphera griseana (Hübner, 1799) were observed on this island from 16 July–2 August 2020. This is the first and the only terrestrial invertebrate ever discovered on Vize Island. The moths were likely transported to the island by air currents from the northern part of the Krasnoyarsk region, where an outbreak of Z. griseana was reported on over 75,000 ha. The distance travelled by moths approached 1200 km. Thus, the high Arctic islands are less isolated from insect migrants than was commonly thought. These islands will be colonised by boreal insects as soon as changing environmental conditions allow the establishment of local populations.