Hidden in Plain Flight: 2025 Cryptic Moth Carcina ingridmariae Revealed
Austria’s Dr. Peter Huemer used DNA barcoding and genitalia dissection to reveal Carcina ingridmariae as a new cryptic species, distinct from Carcina quercana by 6.5% in a 658-base-pair COI gene; described in Alpine Entomology (Aug 2025) and named in honor of his wife Ingrid Maria, the moth spans the eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Turkey) and was identified from about 100 specimens, illustrating how cryptic species can hide in plain sight.