C. A. Santos

J. C. Zanuncio

L. F. Silva

M. A. Soares

M. J. S. Cabral

P. A. G. Fernandes

R. A. Pinheiro

R. Toma

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1/3Brazilian Journal of Biology, 2025, vol. 85, e294921 | https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.294921Notes and CommentsTHE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON NEOTROPICAL BIOLOGYTHE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY AND ENVIRONMENTISSN 1519-6984 (Print)ISSN 1678-4375 (Online)This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.The black caterpillar, Dione juno juno (Cramer, 1779) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), is one of the main pests of Passiflora edulis Sims (Passifloraceae), with high population densities, especially in the winter and summer months, can completely defoliate its plant host, reducing its productivity (Boiça Júnior et al., 1999).Chemical insecticides are the primary management method for D. juno juno, while biological control with entomopathogens is increasing, especially with Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner, 1915) and Baculovirus (NPV), but few studies have reported parasitoids and predators of this pest in Brazil (Pinheiro et al., 2022, 2023; Agrolink, 2024). Parasitoids are among the most effective and specific conservative biological control agents, especially species of Tachinidae (Diptera) (Scaramozzino et al., 2020). This family is one of the most diverse within this order, with 8,592 valid species and a wide geographic distribution (O’Hara et al., 2019). Tachinidae larvae are parasitoids of other arthropods, mainly other insects such as Lepidoptera caterpillars and other herbivorous insects, making them an essential part in regulating insect pest populations in agroecosystems (Stireman et al., 2006).The genus Moreiria Townsend, 1932 (Tachinidae: Exoristinae) is composed of two species: Moreiria maura Townsend, 1932 and Moreiria wiedemanni Toma & Guimarães, 2001 both described from Brazil (O’Hara et al., 2019). Moreiria wiedemanni was recorded as a natural enemy of Lonomia obliqua Walker, 1855 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) (Toma and Guimarães, 2001; Moraes, 2002); however, there is no host record for M. maura.This study aimed to report the parasitism of D. juno juno caterpillars by M. maura and the first record of this parasitoid fly species in Minas Gerais and its distribution in Brazil.Approximately 300 pupae of D. juno juno were collected on P. edulis plants in the Horticulture Sector (18°12ʹ13ʺ S, 43°34ʹ17ʺ W; 1.387 m a.s.l.) in an area close to rupestrian fields in Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha Moreiria maura (Diptera: Tachinidae), parasitoid of Dione juno juno (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in BrazilR. A. Pinheiroa* , L. F. Silvab , M. J. S. Cabrala , P. A. G. Fernandesa , R. Tomad , C. A. Santosb ,  J. C. Zanuncioc  and M. A. Soaresa aUniversidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri – UFVJM, Departamento de Agronomia, Diamantina, MG, BrasilbUniversidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri – UFVJM, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Diamantina, MG, BrasilcUniversidade Federal de Viçosa – UFV, Departamento de Entomologia, Viçosa, MG, BrasildFiocruz Mato Grosso do Sul – FIOCRUZ, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil*e-mail: bio.rodrigopinheiro@gmail.com Received: March 10, 2025 – Accepted: April 17, 2025 Editor: José Galizia Tundisie Mucuri (UFVJM) Campus JK in the municipality of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. These pupae were placed in a 42 x 30 cm plastic tray with the bottom lined with paper towels and a voile screen to prevent emerging natural enemies from escaping. Monitoring was carried out daily until D. juno juno or its parasitoids emerged.Three puparia of Tachinidae flies were obtained from the pupae of D. juno juno. Subsequently, three flies emerged from these puparia, were fixed in 70% ethanol and sent to the taxonomist Dr. Ronaldo Toma of the Fundação Osvaldo Cruz in the municipality of Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Identified specimens were deposited at the Zoological Reference Collection of the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Brazil.The flies were photographed with an AmScope MU3003.0 MP digital camera attached to a Zeiss Stemi 508 stereomicroscope. The imaging plates were assembled with the GNU Image Manipulation Program (Gimp v. 2.8).Three flies from D. juno juno pupae were identified as Moreiria maura Townsend, 1932 (Diptera: Tachinidae) (Figures 1A and 1B).The emergence of M. maura confirms the diversity of parasitoids of the Tachinidae family on D. juno juno, including Chetogena scutellaris (Wulp, 1890) and Lespesia archippivora (Riley, 1871) (Diptera: Tachinidae), respectively, from pupae in Costa Rica (Janzen and Hallwachs, 2009) and caterpillars of this pest in Coclé Province, Panama (Murgas et al., 2020). Furthermore, Chalcidoidea microhymenoptera such as Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle, 1993 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Rio de Janeiro (Gil-Santana and Tavares, 2006), Conura spp. (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) In Pernambuco (Lima et al., 1995) and Brachymeria koehleri (Blanchard, 1935) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), a hyperparasitoid of pupae of Chetogena sp. (Diptera: Tachinidae) was reported from D. juno juno pupae in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil (Pinheiro et al., 2022).The collection and identification of flies from D. juno juno expand the number of natural enemies of this pest Brazilian Journal of Biology, 2025, vol. 85, e2949212/3Pinheiro, R.A. et al.after the report of social wasps such as Polistes satan Bequaert, 1940 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Pinheiro et al., 2023) and Agelaia pallipes (Olivier, 1792), Parachartergus pseudapicalis Willink, 1959, Polistes carnifex (Fabricius, 1775), Polistes versicolor (Olivier, 1791) and Polybia rejecta (Fabricius, 1798) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Pernambuco state, Brazil (Lima et al., 1995) and Mischocyttarus angulatus Richards, 1945 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the province of Coclé, Panama (Murgas et al., 2020) preying on this pest. Furthermore, the stink bug Mormidea notulata (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1844) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) found in Coclé Province, Panama on caterpillars (Murgas et al., 2020) and the stink bug Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas, 1851) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on caterpillars and pupae of D. juno juno in Viçosa municipality, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Moreira et al., 1998).The collection of M. maura in Minas Gerais state, expands the area of occurrence of this parasitoid after its report in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, Southeast region, and Santa Catarina, South region, of Brazil (Figure 2) (Toma and Guimarães, 2001).This is the first report of M. maura parasitizing D. juno juno and the presence of this natural enemy in Diamantina, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, increasing the number of parasitoids of this butterfly and being the first known host of this fly.AcknowledgementsTo the development agencies Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES – Finance code – 001) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG).Data Availability StatementResearch data is only available upon requestReferencesAGROLINK, 2024 [viewed 17 April 2025]. Lagarta do maracujazeiro [online]. Available from: https://www.agrolink.com.br/problemas/lagarta-do-maracujazeiro_443.html#:~:text=Dione%20juno%20juno%20apresenta%20h%C3%A1bito,mudas%20rec%C3%A9m%2Dplantadas%20no%20campoBOIÇA JÚNIOR, A.L., LARA, F.M. and OLIVEIRA, J.C., 1999. Flutuação populacional de Dione juno juno (Cramer, 1779) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) em maracujazeiros (Passiflora spp.), métodos de amostragem e resistência de genótipos. Scientia Agrícola, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 437–441. http://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-90161999000200025.GIL-SANTANA, H.R. and TAVARES, M.T., 2006. Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae): a new parasitoid of Dione juno juno (Cramer) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 891–892. http://doi.org/10.1590/S0101-81752006000300040.JANZEN, D.H. and HALLWACHS, W., 2009 [viewed 17 February 2025]. Dynamic database for an inventory of the macrocaterpillar fauna, and its food plants and parasitoids, of Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica (nn-SRNP-nnnnn voucher codes) [online]. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Available from: http://janzen.sas.upenn.eduLIMA, M.F.C., VEIGA, S.L. and ANTONIO, F., 1995. Ocorrência de inimigos naturais de Dione juno juno (CR.), Agraulis vanillae maculosa S. e Eueides isabella dianasa (Hüb.) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) em Pernambuco. Anais da Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 631–634. http://doi.org/10.37486/0301-8059.v24i3.1075.MORAES, R.H., 2002  [viewed 17 April 2025]. Identificação dos inimigos naturais de Lonomia obliqua Walker, 1855 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) e possíveis fatores determinantes do aumento de sua população [online]. Piracicaba: Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, Universidade de São Paulo, 56 p. Dissertação de Mestrado em Entomologia. Available from: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11146/tde-30122002-090738/MOREIRA, L.A., ZANUNCIO, J.C. and MOLINA-RUGAMA, A.J., 1998. Dados biológicos de Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) alimentado com a lagarta do maracujazeiro Dione juno juno (Cramer). Figure 2. Distribution of Moreiria maura Townsend, 1932 in Brazil. Legend: Yellow circles are previous occurrences; red star is a new occurrence.Figure 1. Moreiria maura Townsend, 1932. (A) Habitus, lateral view; (B) Habitus, dorsal view.Brazilian Journal of Biology, 2025, vol. 85, e294921 3/3New host and distribution Moreiria maura in BrazilAnais da Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 645–647. http://doi.org/10.1590/S0301-80591998000400018.MURGAS, A.S., MARTÍNEZ, A. and RODRÍGUEZ, L.M., 2020. Enemigos naturales de Dione juno (Cramer, 1779) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) en cultivo de Passiflora edulis Sims, J. (1818). Tecnociencia, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 97–108. http://doi.org/10.48204/j.tecno.v22n1a7.O’HARA, J.E., HENDERSON, S.J. and WOOD, D.M., 2019 [viewed 17 April 2025]. Preliminary checklist of the Tachinidae of the world [online]. NADS. Available from:  http://www.nadsdiptera.org/Tach/WorldTachs/Checklist/Worldchecklist.htmlPINHEIRO, R.A., COSTA, D.A., SOUZA, P.G.C., CABRAL, M.J.S., GIORDANI, S.C.O., ZANUNCIO, J.C., SERRÃO, J.E., SOUZA, M.M. and SOARES, M.A., 2023. Polistes satan (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) predating Dione juno juno (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Brazilian Journal of Biology = Revista Brasileira de Biologia, vol. 83, e265293. http://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.265293. PMid:36515296.PINHEIRO, R.A., ZANUNCIO, J.C., TOMA, R., ISAAC JUNIOR, J.B., SOARES, M.A., SANTOS, C.A., SERRÃO, J.E., CABRAL, M.J.S. and TAVARES, M.T., 2022. Brachymeria koehleri (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae): first record as hyperparasitoid in Dione juno juno (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) pupae. Brazilian Journal of Biology = Revista Brasileira de Biologia, vol. 82, e260645. http://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.260645. PMid:36515296.SCARAMOZZINO, P.L., DI GIOVANNI, F., LONI, A., GISONDI, S., LUCCHI, A. and CERRETTI, P., 2020. Tachinid (Diptera, Tachinidae) parasitoids of Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) and other moths. ZooKeys, vol. 934, pp. 111–140. http://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.934.50823. PMid:32508497.STIREMAN, J.O., O’HARA, J.E. and WOOD, D.M., 2006. Tachinidae: evolution, behavior and ecology. Annual Review of Entomology, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 525–555. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.51.110104.151133. PMid:16332222.TOMA, R. and GUIMARÃES, J.H., 2001. Moreiria wiedemanni sp. nov. e redescrição de M. maura (Diptera, Tachinidae). Iheringia. Série Zoologia, vol. 91, no. 91, pp. 49–52. http://doi.org/10.1590/S0073-47212001000200006.

Moreiria maura (Diptera: Tachinidae), parasitoid of Dione juno juno (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Brazil

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Moreiria maura (Diptera: Tachinidae), parasitoid of Dione juno juno (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Brazil

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