Taxonomic separateness of the subspecies of Noctua interjecta Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) inhabiting central Europe

This study focuses on morphological and genetic differences between two central European subspecies of the noctuid moth Noctua interjecta Hübner: N. interjecta interjecta Hübner, 1803 from Transcarpathia in Ukraine and N. interjecta caliginosa (Schawerda, 1919) from Poland. While the morphological differences between these taxa are fairly obvious, individuals from these two populations were found to differ also genetically, as indicated by the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene sequences. The Transcarpathian population exhibits solely the NImizH3 haplotype, but the Polish one the relatively distant NImizH1 and NImizH2 haplotypes. A Neighbour-Joining tree and a network of haplotypes separated the two haplotypes found in Poland (N. i. caliginosa) from those derived from NImizH3 (N. i. interjecta). The divergence time for these two groups was estimated as 400–600 thousand years before present, coinciding with the maximum extent of the Pleistocene ice-sheet covering Europe