Mexican Lepidoptera biodiversity

Being among the most habitat diverse countries in the world (and plant diversity is about 22,000 sp.), Mexico has a Lepidoptera fauna recorded at about 14,385 species but is estimated to be over 22,000 species, if not much higher (some estimates go to 35,000 sp.). High Lepidoptera numbers in Mexico are also due to the large influx of tropical species from the border with Guatemala, as well as Mexican endemics. In this report, the Lepidoptera families are summarized for Mexico, giving known species and what experts estimate to be the true total for each family when all have been described. Many regions of Mexico are still poorly known for smaller moths

Holotype of Agathymus escalantei Stallings, Turner, and Stallings, 1966 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Megathyminae)

Agathymus escalantei Stallings, Turner, and Stallings, 1966 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) is the only described species of Megathyminae known from a single collected individual. To date, the only images of this specimen are poor black and white illustrations published in the original description. This note presents the first color photographs of the holotype

The Effect of X-Rays on Cytological Traits of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is one of the most important pests of tomato. With the purpose of developing environmentally friendly control tactics such as the inherited sterility (IS) technique against this species, it is essential to understand its genetics and biology. In this paper we analyzed the karyotype, sperm morphology and sperm ratio in wild-type and X-ray irradiated individuals of T. absoluta. The diploid chromosome number of T. absoluta was 2n = 58 including the pair of sex chromosomes: ZZ in males and WZ in females, which were the largest elements of the complement. Irradiation of pupae in an X-ray machine with a dose of 200 Gy generated various types of chromosomal rearrangements including translocations and fragmentations, resulting in altered chromosome numbers. The analysis of spermatozoa in T. absoluta revealed a significant morphological difference between apyrene and eupyrene sperm bundles. Irradiation with X-ray doses of 100, 150, 200 and 250 Gy did not have a significant effect on the apyrene to eupyrene sperm ratio. However, males irradiated with 300 Gy produced significantly more apyrene sperm than non-irradiated males. All the doses applied influenced the morphology of eupyrene sperm bundles. The modified eupyrene sperm bundles could be used as a bioindicator during the monitoring of an IS program after the release of irradiated males. We found that the modified eupyrene spermatozoa were transferred to the bursae copulatrices of the females. Males treated with 200 Gy transferred a greater proportion of modified eupyrene sperm than untreated males. The results presented herein provide essential information on the cytology of T. absoluta, which is required to evaluate the quality of the released insects, and for better understanding and application of IS against this economically important pest.Fil: Carabajal Paladino, Leonela Zusel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ceske Budejovice; República ChecaFil: Ferrari, María Edith. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Lauría, Juan P.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Cagnotti, Cynthia Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Síchová, Jindra. Ceske Budejovice; República Checa. University of South Bohemia; República ChecaFil: López, Silvia Noelí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentin

Moths of the Douglas Lake Region (Emmet and Cheboygan Counties), Michigan: II. Noctuidae (Lepidoptera)

(excerpt) The two counties which share the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Emmet on the west and Cheboygan on the east, have long been taken to define the principal region under study by the University of Michigan Biological Station, situated since 1909 on Douglas Lake in Cheboygan County near the Emmet County line

An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Honduras

A biodiversity inventory of the Lepidoptera of Pico Bonito National Park and vicinity, in the Department of Atlantida of northern Honduras, was initiated in 2009 to obtain baseline data. We present a revised checklist of Honduran butterfly species (updated from the initial 1967 lists), as well as the first comprehensive list of Honduran moths. Our updated list includes 550 species of Papilionoidea, 311 Hesperioidea, and 1,441 moth species

Puddling by Female Florida Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies, \u3ci\u3ePapillo Glaucus Australis\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

(excerpt) Many species from all families of Rhopaloccra have been reported to drink water (Norris 1936). Bates (1863) noted that, in the Amazon, 80 species from 22 genera flocked about the damp edges of water and, with very few exceptions, all of these individuals were males

Gene-flow between populations of cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is highly variable between years

Both large and small scale migrations of Helicoverpa armigera Hübner in Australia were investigated using AMOVA analysis and genetic assignment tests. Five microsatellite loci were screened across 3142 individuals from 16 localities in eight major cotton and grain growing regions within Australia, over a 38-month period (November 1999 to January 2003). From November 1999 to March 2001 relatively low levels of migration were characterized between growing regions. Substantially higher than average gene-flow rates and limited differentiation between cropping regions characterized the period from April 2001 to March 2002. A reduced migration rate in the year from April 2002 to March 2003 resulted in significant genetic structuring between cropping regions. This differentiation was established within two or three generations. Genetic drift alone is unlikely to drive genetic differentiation over such a small number of generations, unless it is accompanied by extreme bottlenecks and/or selection. Helicoverpa armigera in Australia demonstrated isolation by distance, so immigration into cropping regions is more likely to come from nearby regions than from afar. This effect was most pronounced in years with limited migration. However, there is evidence of long distance dispersal events in periods of high migration (April 2001–March 2002). The implications of highly variable migration patterns for resistance management are considered.K.D. Scott, K.S. Wilkinson, N. Lawrence, C.L. Lange, L.J. Scott, M.A. Merritt, A.J. Lowe and G.C Graha

Target-site mutations (AChE and kdr), and PSMO activity in codling moth (Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)) populations from Spain

Codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) is a key pest of global importance that affects apple fruit production and whose populations have developed resistance to insecticides in many apple production areas. In Spain, enhanced cytochrome P450 polysubstrate monooxygenase (PSMO) activity is the main mechanism involved in insecticide detoxification by codling moth, although acetylcholinesterase (AChE) target site mutations have been described in two populations. However, the extent of AChE and knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations in Spain is unknown. To assess the actual occurrence of AChE and kdr mutations concurrently with the frequency of moths with PSMO enhanced activity (R-PSMO), 32 Spanish field populations from four apple-growing areas of Spain and two susceptible laboratory strains were evaluated. R-PSMO was significantly higher in 23 chemically treated field populations from Extremadura, Catalonia and Aragon, with proportions that varied between 25% and 90%, but no significant differences among strains and the non-chemically treated orchards (organic or abandoned) were observed. The AChE mutation (F290V) was detected in all field populations from Catalonia (n=21) and in three field populations from Aragon (n=5), with resistant phenotype proportions varying from 34.2% to 97.5% and from 7.2% to 65% in Catalonia and Aragon, respectively. In addition, the kdr mutation (L1014F) was detected in twelve Catalonian field populations, at rates of incidence ranging between 2.6% and 56.8%. A positive correlation between R-PSMO and AChE mutation was found. The origin of the mutations and their ability to persist and spread in field populations with different management systems is discussed.The authors thank the fruit growers and pest control advisors of the different Spanish apple-growing areas for their help in accessing and identifying apple orchards and Mónica Pérez for her technical help. This work was funded by grant Fondo de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, FONDECYT 11130599 (CONICYT), Chile, to M.A. Rodríguez, by grant AGL2013-49164 of the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, to J. Avilla and D. Bosch, and by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya

Preliminary Inventory of Lepidoptera From Cook County, Minnesota: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea, Drepanoidea, Geometroidea, Bombycoidea, Sphingoidea and Noctuoidea

Four hundred and sixty five species of butterflies, skippers and moths, collected from 1988 through the summer of 2007, are reported from Cook County, MN. Included are data for three butterfly species of special concern: Lycaeides idas nabokovi Masters, Erebia discoidalis (Kirby) and Oeneis jutta (Hübner). Numbers of species recorded for the following families were: Hesperiidae (14), Papilionidae (2), Pieridae (7), Lycaenidae (14), Nymphalidae (24), Satyridae (6), Danaidae (1), Thyatiridae (4), Drepanidae (3), Geometridae (99), Lasiocampidae (2), Saturniidae (4), Sphingidae (16), Notodontidae (20), Arctiidae (19), Lyman- triidae (5) and Noctuidae (225). Euphydryas phaeton (Drury) (Nymphalidae) is reported for the first time from Cook County, MN and Pontia protodice (Boisduval & LeConte) (Pieridae) and Hyalophora columbia (Smith) (Saturniidae) for the first time from northeastern Minnesota

Abundance and Identification of the Leafmining Guild on Apple in the Mid-Atlantic States

The leafmining guild on apple in the northeastern United States was studied from 1983 to 1988. Ten species of leafminers, all Lepidoptera, were encountered during the sampling. Phyllonorycter spp. (P. blancardella and P. crataegella) were the most ubiquitous and most abundant throughout the region. Lyonetia speculella was also abundant in both managed and unmanaged orchards, indicating a potential to become a pest. Bucculatrix pomiloliella and Coptodisca splendorilerella were abundant in unmanaged orchards, but were only rarely found in managed orchards. Coleophora serratella, Stigmella pomivorella, Parornix geminatella, Tischeria malifoliella, and Recurvaria nanella were also found. A key to the most important leafminer species on apple in the mid-Atlantic states, based on leafmine characteristics, is presented