Here we review the genus Nycteola of the Nolidae (Lepidoptera). As the result of this study, we recognized already synonymized species N. costalis Sugi, 1959 of N. coreana (Leech, 1900) and newly recorded species N. dufayi Sugi, 1982. Whlie the number of Korean Nycteola species remain unchanged, the composition has been changed.
The superfamily Noctuoidea Latreille, 1809 is the largest group within the order Lepidoptera. This big superfamily have been studied for a long time by numerous authors and literatures. However, these huge number of information make hard to study this important group. In this discussion, we hope to talk a simplified overview of significant literature on Korean noctuid moths, recent trends, and forecast for approaching them more easily.
Two new species, Stericta jaeshini Kim & Bae, sp. nov. and S. atroaurantiaca Kim & Bae, sp. nov. are described from Laos and Cambodia. About 50 species of the genus Stericta have been recorded from Southeast Asia, but it has not been recorded to occur in Laos and Cambodia previously. We record the presence of this genus in these two countries for the first time in this study. Illustrations of adults and genitalia of examined species are provided.
Family Nolidae has not much been treated as noticeable pest. In other countries, there are some pest species like Garella musculana (Erschoff, 1874), Uraba lugens Walker, 1866, and Earias insulana (Boisduval, 1833), but those are not reported in Korea. Recently, the occurrence of a nolid species, Meganola major (Hampson, 1894) has been increasing, especially in Jeollanam-do Prov. This species is mainly distributed in Indian subregion and Southeast Asia, but also East Asia reported, but until now, there are no outbreak information. Neverthereless, recent outbreak might be lead by global warming, and their growth stage. This seems to be evidence of the potential outbreak risk of nolid moths, but unfortunately, their ecology is not mostly well-studied. In this discussion, we are focusing on the potential outbreak of nolid moths in East Asiatic and Oriental regions.