Situación actual del conocimiento de la familia Tortricidae Latreille, 1803, en Catalunya (Lepidptera)

En este artículo se presenta un catálogo provisional de los Tortricidae de Catalunya, al tiempo que se aportan nuevos datos discutiéndose el origen de las citas y su possible interés.Present state of knowledge of the family Tortricidae Latreille, 1803, in Catalonia (Lepidoptera). In this paper a provisional catalogue of the Tortricidae of Catalonia is presented. At the same time new data are reported and the origin of the records and their possible interest is discussed

The generalist inside the specialist: gut bacterial communities of two insect species feeding on toxic plants are dominated by enterococcus sp.

Some specialist insects feed on plants rich in secondary compounds, which pose a major selective pressure on both the phytophagous and the gut microbiota. However, microbial communities of toxic plant feeders are still poorly characterized. Here, we show the bacterial communities of the gut of two specialized Lepidoptera, Hyles euphorbiae and Brithys crini, which exclusively feed on latex-rich Euphorbia sp. and alkaloid-rich Pancratium maritimum, respectively. A metagenomic analysis based on high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the gut microbiota of both insects is dominated by the phylum Firmicutes, and especially by the common gut inhabitant Enterococcus sp. Staphylococcus sp. are also found in H. euphorbiae though to a lesser extent. By scanning electron microscopy, we found a dense ring-shaped bacterial biofilm in the hindgut of H. euphorbiae, and identified the most prominent bacterium in the biofilm as Enterococcus casseliflavus through molecular techniques. Interestingly, this species has previously been reported to contribute to the immobilization of latex-like molecules in the larvae of Spodoptera litura, a highly polyphagous lepidopteran. The E. casseliflavus strain was isolated from the gut and its ability to tolerate natural latex was tested under laboratory conditions. This fact, along with the identification of less frequent bacterial species able to degrade alkaloids and/or latex, suggest a putative role of bacterial communities in the tolerance of specialized insects to their toxic diet.Financial support was provided by grant BFU2012-39816-C02-01 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain) co-financed by FEDER funds to Amparo Latorre and CGL2008-00605 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) to Joaquín Baixeras. Cristina Vilanova is a recipient of a FPU fellowship from the Ministerio de Educación (Spain).Peer reviewe

First report of Antigastra catalaunalis on sesame in Greece.

In August 2016, severe infestations of sesame crops by the sesame leaf webber and capsule borer, Antigastra catalaunalis (Duponchel) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), were recorded in rural areas of the Regional Unit of Drama, Northern Greece. Larval feeding-damage symptoms were observed on leaves and capsules. Infestations were recorded in all of the inspected sesame fields. The infestation levels were considerable high resulting in significant economic loss. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. catalaunalis severe infestation on sesame in Greece

Succession of the gut microbiota in the cockroach Blattella germanica

The cockroach gut harbors a wide variety of microorganisms that, among other functions, collaborate in digestion and act as a barrier against pathogen colonization. Blattabacterium, a primary endosymbiont, lives in the fat body inside bacteriocytes and plays an important role in nitrogen recycling. Little is known about the mode of acquisition of gut bacteria or their ecological succession throughout the insect life cycle. Here we report on the bacterial taxa isolated from different developmental instars of the cockroach Blattella germanica. The bacterial load in the gut increased two orders of magnitude from the first to the second nymphal stage, coinciding with the incorporation of the majority of bacterial taxa, but remained similar thereafter.  Pyrosequencing of the hypervariable regions V1–V3 of the 16S rRNA genes showed that the microbial composition differed significantly between adults and nymphs. Specifically, a succession was observed in which Fusobacterium accumulated with aging, while Bacteroides decreased. Blattabacterium was the only symbiont found in the ootheca, which makes the vertical transmission of gut bacteria an unlikely mode of acquisition. Scanning electron microscopy disclosed a rich bacterial biofilm in third instar nymphs, while filamentous structures were found exclusively in adults. [Int Microbiol 2014; 17(2):99-109]Keywords: Blattella germanica · cockroach gut microbiota · 16S rRNA gene · endosymbionts · ecological successio

A Molecular Phylogeny for the Leaf-Roller Moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and Its Implications for Classification and Life History Evolution

Tortricidae, one of the largest families of microlepidopterans, comprise about 10,000 described species worldwide, including important pests, biological control agents and experimental models. Understanding of tortricid phylogeny, the basis for a predictive classification, is currently provisional. We present the first detailed molecular estimate of relationships across the tribes and subfamilies of Tortricidae, assess its concordance with previous morphological evidence, and re-examine postulated evolutionary trends in host plant use and biogeography.We sequenced up to five nuclear genes (6,633 bp) in each of 52 tortricids spanning all three subfamilies and 19 of the 22 tribes, plus up to 14 additional genes, for a total of 14,826 bp, in 29 of those taxa plus all 14 outgroup taxa. Maximum likelihood analyses yield trees that, within Tortricidae, differ little among data sets and character treatments and are nearly always strongly supported at all levels of divergence. Support for several nodes was greatly increased by the additional 14 genes sequenced in just 29 of 52 tortricids, with no evidence of phylogenetic artifacts from deliberately incomplete gene sampling. There is strong support for the monophyly of Tortricinae and of Olethreutinae, and for grouping of these to the exclusion of Chlidanotinae. Relationships among tribes are robustly resolved in Tortricinae and mostly so in Olethreutinae. Feeding habit (internal versus external) is strongly conserved on the phylogeny. Within Tortricinae, a clade characterized by eggs being deposited in large clusters, in contrast to singly or in small batches, has markedly elevated incidence of polyphagous species. The five earliest-branching tortricid lineages are all species-poor tribes with mainly southern/tropical distributions, consistent with a hypothesized Gondwanan origin for the family.We present the first robustly supported phylogeny for Tortricidae, and a revised classification in which all of the sampled tribes are now monophyletic

Contribució a l'estudi dels Heteròcers valencians (Lepidoptera)

Citem 62 espècies de macroheteròers valencians, entre les que destaquen les captures de Graellsia isabelae Graells, Phalera bucephaloides O., Phyllodesma kermesiofolia Laj. i Dysauxes punctata F. Així mateix augmenten l'àrea de distribució de moltes altres espècies, fins al moment mal conegudes en el País Valencià.Contribution to the knowledge of the heterocera-fauna frorn Valencia (Lepidoptera). In this paper, 62 species of macroheterocera are recorded from Valencia. The records of Graellsia isabelae Graells, Phalera bucephaloides O., Phyllodesma kermesiofolia Laj. and Dysauxes punctata F. are especially remarkable. At the same time we improve the knowledge of the distribution of many other species scarcely known until now in the Valencian Community

A new fossil inchworm moth discovered in Miocene Dominican amber (Lepidoptera : Geometridae)

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MWe report a fossil geometrid moth, a male, virtually complete, preserved in a clear piece of Miocene Dominican amber dating from 19 to 16 Mya. Fore- and hindwings appear partially overlapped, and all body characters are visible externally in dorsal and ventral views, including the outer surface of the valvae of the genitalia. The scale pattern on the wing membrane is preserved, whereas the wing color pattern is not. It belongs to the genus Dolichoneura (Geometridae: Desmobathrinae) and is named Dolichoneura jorelisae Sarto i Monteys, Hausmann, Baixeras and Peñalver sp. n., based on wing features. Because of the poor fossil record of lepidopterans, both in amber and compression rocks, the description of the available well-preserved specimens is of considerable interest for phylogenetic studies. Furthermore, it could also serve for calibrating molecular clocks and for paleobiogeographic inferences

Tortricidae nuevos o interesantes para la fauna catalana e ibérica

En este trabajo se dan a conocer citas de 29 espècies de Tortricidae procedentes de Cataluña, en su mayoría y también de Huesca y Andorra. Se trata de citas de especial interés, cuatro de ellas, las correspondientes a Phalonidae albipalpana, Lozotaenia forsterana, Clepis rayana y Pantene aurana, son primeras citas para la Península Ibérica. Por otro lado también se comenta la variabilidad observada en la especie Agapeta angetana.In this work, sume records of 29 species of Tortricidae, specially from Catalonia, but also from Huesca and Andorra, are given. They are very interesting records, four of them, corresponding to Phalonidia albipalpana, Lozotaenia forsterana, Clensis rayana and Pantene aurana are firts records from the Iberian Peninsula. Moreover the genital variability of Agapeta angelana is also discussed