As a result of published and unpublished revisionary work, literature compilation and expeditions to the Beringian area, 98 species of the Noctuidae are listed as Holarctic and grouped according to their taxonomic and distributional history. Of the 44 species considered to be "naturally" Holarctic before this sttdy, 27 (61%) are confirmed as Holarctic; 16 species are added on account of range extensions and 29 because of changes in their taxonomic status; 17 taxa are deleted from the Holarctic list. This brings the total of the group to 72 species. Thirteen species are considered to be introduced by man from Europe, a further eight to have been transported by man in the subtropical areas, and five migrant species, three of them of Neotropical origin, may have been assisted by man. The majority of the "naturally" Holarctic species are associated with tundra habitats. The species of dry tundra are frequently endemic to Beringia. In the taiga zone, most Holarctic connections consist of Palaearctic/Nearctic species pairs. The proportion of Holarctic species decreases from 100% in the High Arctic to between 40  and 75% in Beringia and the northern taigazone, and from between 10 and 20% in Newfoundland and Finland to between 2 and 4% in southern Ontario, Central Europe, Spain and Primorye. Excluding the species supposedly introduced or assisted by man, all Holarctic species occur in the wider Beringian area (Pyrrhia exprimens (Wlk.) has been observed only in Kamchatka and Anaplectoides prasina (D. &. S.) near the southern border of the Yukon); 36/72 (50%) of the Holarctic species are circumpolar in distribution. The earlier view about Amphiatlantic distributions in the Lepidoptera is refuted. The origin of the Beringian fauna and the mammoth-steppe idea are discussed.

No abstract

The 9 species of the Lasionycta leucocycla complex are reviewed and the number of species reduced to 4. Populations of these species are arranged in 18 subspecies, of which 3 are described as new: L. leucocycla magadanensis Kononenko and Lafontaine, from Magadanskaya Oblast’, L. staudingeri sajanensis Kononenko, from southern Siberia, and L. quadrilunata yukona Lafontaine, from northwestern Canada. Lasionycta dovrensis (Wocke), of the Palaearctic region, is treated as a subspecies of L. leucocycla. Characters to distinguish the species and subspecies, and their distributions are given. The larva of L. staudingeri is described.

The subfamily Araeopteroninae Fibiger, 2005 from the Russian Far East and neighbouring countries is revised. Six species occur in Russia, three of which are new: A. ussurica sp. n., A. makikoae sp. n. and A. patella sp. n.; A. fragmenta and A. nebulosa are reported for the first time for Russia. In South Korea five species occur, two of which are new: A. patella sp. n. and A. koreana sp. n. Three species, A. amoena, A. nebulosa, and A. fragmenta are reported for the first time from China. The formerly described Far Eastern species (A. amoena, A. nebulosa, A. fragmenta and A. flaccida) are redescribed based on morphological characters. Adultss of all species from northern East Asia treated in the article are illustrated in color with their male and female genitalia. Distribution maps of the species in the Russian Far East are presented, along with an alphabetic checklist of 36 described species.

The Lasionycta skraelingia (H.-S.) species complex, formerly considered to include only one species, is shown to consist of six species. Three species (Lasionycta buraetica Kononenko, from the Sayan Mountains, USSR; L. corax Kononenko from the Upper Kolyma River area, USSR; and L. taigata Lafontaine from northern Canada) are described as new. The name L. alpicola, proposed by Hampson as an aberration of L. skraelingia, is validated as a species. The taxon Lasionycta phaea (Hampson), currently treated as a subspecies of L. impingens (Walker), is shown to be a distinct species in the L. skraelingia complex; a lectotype is designated for Anarta phaea Hampson. Adults and genitalia are illustrated for the six species; a key to species and distribution maps are also included. Lasionycta membrosa (Morrison, 1875) is placed in synonymy with L. subdita (Möschler, 1860).