In the present paper, we examined Erebidae specimens collected from different parts of India, and describe a new species in Arctiinae, Miltochrista terrarega sp. nov. and report five species new to the Indian fauna: Ericeia sobria Walker, [1858] in Erebinae; Euproctis cryptosticta Collenette, 1934, Artaxa kanshireia (Wileman, 1910), Nygmia ganesa Kishida, 2020 and N. hanuman Kishida, 2020 in Lymantriinae. Genitalia of B. calopasa from India is also provided. We studied, for the first time, the females of N. ganesa and N. hanuman, and the female genitalia of A. kanshireia and E. cryptosticta. The diagnoses of all the seven species along with their habitus and genitalia illustrations are provided along with the distributions.
Spiders contribute significantly to natural pest control in agriculture. Here, we investigated the biodiversity, population dynamics and predatory activities of spiders in the maize-growing districts (Kasur and Lahore) of Punjab, Pakistan during 2018–2019. Various collecting methods including pitfall and yellow pan traps, manual hand-picking, beat sheet, and sweep nets were used to collect spiders on a biweekly basis. The collected 12,894 individuals represented 45 different species, 27 genera, and 13 families. The major families recorded were Araneidae (32.92%), Lycosidae (20.43%) and Salticidae (11.12%) comprising >64% of the overall abundance. Neoscona theisi (Araneidae) was found to be most dominant species (11.61%). Moreover, the species Macracantha hasselti (Araneidae) and Atypena formosana are reported for the first time from Pakistan. Besides, the estimated species diversity from both districts was 97%. The Margalef's index was highest in Kasur (D = 5.08) and lowest in Lahore (D = 4.95). The values of the Shannon-Wiener and species evenness indices were similar in Kasur and Lahore suggesting similar diversity levels and an even distribution. Spider abundance was highest in April and lowest in June and July. These findings will help to develop effective Integrated Pest Management strategies in maize growing areas across the world.