An Inventory of Geometrid Moths (lepidoptera: Geometridae) of Iraqi Kurdistan

This study investigates the fauna of Geometridae (Lepidoptera, Geometroidea) in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Field collections were conducted between 2021 and 2025. Moths were collected using light traps at numerous localities across Iraqi Kurdistan, including the provinces of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, Kirkuk, and Halabja. We report faunistic and taxonomic data for 134 geometrid species belonging to five subfamilies: Desmobathrinae (two species), Geometrinae (five species), Sterrhinae (35 species), Larentiinae (40 species), and Ennominae (52 species). Of these, 64 species are reported as new records for the Lepidoptera fauna of Iraq. The status of both Nebula pistacieti (Wiltshire, 1952) and Larentia pallidata (Staudinger, 1898) has been elevated from subspecies of Nebula apiciata (Wiltshire, 1952) and Larentia clavaria (Staudinger, 1898) to species rank based on both morphological and molecular evidence.