Biotop of the fungus moth Scardia boletella with 

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... NTRODUCTION The fungus moth Scardia boletella (Fabricius, 1794) is a species belonging to the family Tineidae Latreille, 1810, subfamily Scardiinae Eyer, 1924, and genus Scardia Treitsche, 1830, represented globally by six species (Robinson 2009). S. anatomella (Grote, 1881) occurs in Canada, the United States of America and Venezuela, S. assamensis (Robinson, 1986) is known from Assam province in India, S. amurensis (Zugulajev, 1965) from the Rusian Far East (Amur Region and Primorsky Krai), China and Japan, as well as from the United States of America where the species was introduced, S. alleni (Robinson, 1986) from Brunei and Sulawesi, S. caucasica (Zugulajev, 1965) from the Caucasus and S. boletella (Fabricius, 1794) which has Euro-Siberian distribution (Robinson 1986, 2009, Buszko 2004, Gaedike 2011, Landry et al. 2013). Few fossil forms similar to the genus Scardia were also described by Kuznetzov (1941) from Baltic amber which origin is from ca. 40 million years ago. In Europe, the distribution area of S. boletella covers 21 countries ( Fig. 1) and extends from southern and central parts of Scandinavia and the European part of Russia, through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the northern part of Italy and Greece (Petersen 1957, 1969, Zagulajev 1973, Jalava 1977, Petersen, Gaedike 1979, Aarvik, Mitdgaard 1982, Robinson 1986, Buszko 2004, Lašt ů vka & Liška 2011, Lesar & Govedi č 2010, Pastoralis 2010, Gaedike 2011). This species was also recorded from Switzerland at the beginning of the last century (Rebel 1901), but since then there is no evidence on its presence in this country. In Asia S. boletella is known from few localities in Siberia and the Russian Far East – in the Minussinsk Region, e.g.: Lake Tiberkul in Krasnoyarsk Krai (Central Siberia), Irkutsk Oblast and the Sayan Mts (Koshantschikov 1923, Zagulajev 1973, Robinson 1986). In Poland S. boletella is rarely recorded and known from scattered localities. A few historical data comes, e.g. from the vicinity of Rytro (Schille 1915, Romaniszyn & Schille 1931) and of Ustro ń (Toll 1950), where the species was recorded before 1950. The species was also found in the vicinity of Kraków, in the Beskid Niski and the Bieszczady Mts, as well as in the Bialowie ż a Forest, the Borecka Forest, the I ł awa Lake District (Sosny Taborskie Nature Reserve), the Augustowska Forest and the Knyszy ń ska Forest (Razowski & Palik 1969, Ś liwi ń ski, 1979, Buszko & Nowacki 2000, Buszko 2004, Paw ł owski 2009, Jaworski et al. 2014). As most of the known locations of S. boletella in Poland are situated in subboreal forests in the north-eastern part of the country or in its south part – in the mountain forests; the distribution pattern of this species is regarded as disjunctive. Due to potential various threats for the species it was included in the Red List of Threatened Animals of Poland (Buszko & Nowacki 2002) with category NT (near threatened species), as well as in the Polish Red Data Book of Animals (Buszko 2004) with category LR (lower-risk species), nevertheless, the species is not protected by law. The aim of our work is to review the current state of knowledge on the distribution and biology of S. boletella in Poland. B IOLOGY The biology of S. boletella is relatively well known. The first data on its ecological characteristics were given by Mitterberger (1910) and Koshantschikov (1923), and supplemented later by Zagulajev (1973). It is currently assumed that in the western part of its distribution the species inhabits mainly deciduous and mixed forests typical for temperate climate. Larvae (Fig. 2) feed primarily on large fruiting bodies (sporocarps) of several species of arboreal fungi: e.g. tinder fungus ( Fomes fomentarius (L.: Fr.) Kick.) or representatives of the two genes Polyporus (P. Micheli ex Adans.) (Polyporaceae Fr. ex Corda) and Ganoderma (P. Karst.) (Ganodermataceae Donk) (Zagulajev 1973, Robinson 1986). Furthermore, they often develop inside decaying wood of deciduous trees, mainly birch ( Betula L.), beech ( Fagus L.), alder ( Alnus L.) and elm ( Ulmus L.) (Buszko 2004). Both, standing dead trunks and fallen trees are inhabited (Fig. 3). Larval development in Central Europe takes one year. Trunks or sporocarps inhabited by larvae can be easily detected by the presence of saw dust and frass removed out of the galleries by larvae. Pupation takes place inside larval feeding galleries (Fig. 4), usually inside fruiting body of a fungus, or less often, in the upper layers of wood. Shortly before the adult moth hatch, the pupa emerges from the gallery. Empty pupal case protrudes from the exit hole for a long time, which may also be an indication of the species presence (Figs 5 & 6). Adults (Fig. 7) are on wings from the beginning of June until end of July. They reach 37-60 mm of wingspan and are active mostly at dusk and night (Robinson 1986, Buszko 2004). M ETHODS Data on the occurrence of S. boletella in Poland were mostly taken from the literature. Besides, we listed data on museal specimens, and new data: our own and those that have been provided to us by other Polish lepidopterologists and come from the years 1988-2014. Most of the specimens were caught with use of the mercury mix-light lamps 250-500W, as well as in barrier traps installed on the sporocarps of bracket fungi. Voucher specimens are held in authors’ collections and museums. Additional data were collected on the basis of the characteristics of larval feeding galleries and the presence of empty pupal cases protruding from bracket fungi, decaying trunks, etc. Names of zoogeographical regions ( ● ) follow the division proposed in Catalogue of Polish fauna (Burakowski et al. 1990), while the names of physico-geographical mezoregions (–) are based on the Regional Geography of Poland (Kondracki 2002). Locations ( ■ ) are assigned to UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) 10x10 km grid. Abbreviations used in the text are as follows: ISEZ – Museum of Natural History, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Science, Cracow; MIZ – Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ...