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Twenty-two species of Strymon are known from the vicinity of Cacaulandia in Rondonia, Brazil, of which 14 are new species. These belong to 5 species groups: the "oreala" group [Strymon megarus (Godart)]; the "ziba" group [Strymon ziba (Hewitson), Strymon thulia (Hewitson), Strymon spinatus new species, Strymon latamaculus new species, Strymon pallidulus new species, Stlymon tholus new species]; "valentina" group [Strymon rotundum new species]; "crossoea" group [Strymon crossoea (Hewitson), Strymon crambusa (Hewitson), Stlymon germana new species, Strymon novasignum new species, Strymon clavus new species, Strymon implexus new species, Strymon inmirum new species, Strymon incanus new species, Strymon faunalia (Hewitson), Strymon halos new species, Strymon conspergus new species, Strymon bazochii (Godart), Strymon diagonalis new species]; and "eurytulus" group [Strymon bubastus (Stoll)]. Tentative subgroups of species are suggested for the "crossoea" group as they occur in Rondonia. A neotype is designated for Tmolus basilides and the name synonymized with Strymon megarus. The "basilides" group of Johnson et al. (1990) is renamed the "ziba" group. Based on lectotype designations and superficial and genital differences, S. ziba and S. thu.lia are elevated to specific status.
The species of Gigantombra and Angulopis encountered in the Caca ulandia area of central Rondonia, Brazil, are reviewed. These include ten species (all new) of Gigantombra (G. microserrata, G. dl:vergens, G. quadramacula, G. ampla, G. fuscafascia, G. silva, G. rondonia, G. obscura, G. pelplexa, G. pUlpura) and one new species of Angulo pis (A. tenuis). Thecla sangala Hewitson (1868) is recognized as having priority over Theela autoelea Hewitson (1863-1878 [1877]), new synonym. Rondonia continues to appear as a center ofthecline endemism and to provide abundant examples of sibling species diversity.
Lepidoptera phylogeny and systematics : the state of inventorying moth and butterfly diversity
(2007)
The currently recognized robust support for the monophyly of the Lepidoptera (and the superorder Amphiesmenoptera comprising Lepidoptera + Trichoptera) is outlined, and the phylogeny of the principal lineages within the order is reviewed succinctly. The state of the taxonomic inventory of Lepidoptera is discussed separately for ‘micro-moths’, ‘macro-moths’ and butterflies, three assemblages on which work has followed historically somewhat different paths. While currently there are about 160,000 described species of Lepidoptera, the total number of extant species is estimated to be around half a million. On average, just over one thousand new species of Lepidoptera have been described annually in recent years. Allowing for the new synonyms simultaneously established, the net increase in species numbers still exceeds 800/year. Most of the additions are foreseeable in the micro-moth grade, but even for butterflies ca 100 species are added annually. Examples of particularly interesting new high-rank taxa that have been described (or whose significance has become realized) since the middle of the 20th century include the non-glossatan lineages represented by Agathiphaga and Heterobathmia and the heteroneuran families Andesianidae, Palaephatidae, Hedylidae and Micronoctuidae. Some thoughts on how present and future systematic lepidopterology might be prioritised are presented.
A taxonomic overview for the fritillary genus Speyeria Scudder (= Argynnis Fabricius) and its placement within the Heliconiinae (Nymphalidae) is presented. Taxonomic accounts, type images, and relevant literature for the 25 subspecies within the Speyeria atlantis (Edwards) and Speyeria hesperis (Edwards) complexes and the 16 nominate Speyeria species are included. Errors in nomenclature are identified, taxonomic, life history, and distributional information are updated, and type locality information is discussed. Images of primary type specimens for all 16 Speyeria species and the 25 subspecies in the atlantis - hesperis complexes appear together in color here for the first time. One new combination of a species-subspecies is created: Speyeria hesperis hanseni Emmel, Emmel, and Matoon, 1998, new combination, which was previously Speyeria atlantis hanseni Emmel, Emmel, and Matoon.
In the literature, various environmental factors are described as being capable of influencing the reproductive output of insect females irrespective of their body size. Still, female body size or weight is widely used as a proxy for fecundity. In the present study, a seven-year data set on the autumnal moth, Epirrita autumnata (Borkhausen) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), was used to analyze whether the body weight-fecundity relationship in this capital breeding, cyclic forest defoliating lepidopteran is constant across years. Ambient temperature conditions and density of conspecifics during larval development, the length of the pupal period, as well as moth densities in the parent generation were examined as factors capable of modifying the body weight-fecundity relationship. While the regression slope of potential fecundity (total egg numbers per female) on pupal mass was constant across years, the mean total egg number per given body weight (the regression intercept) was significantly different between years. This residual variance in egg numbers after controlling for the effect of pupal mass was best explained by the pooled geometrid density (autumnal and winter moths) in the parent generation. The total egg number per given body weight decreased with increasing density of geometrid moths in the parent generation. Thus, maternal density effects on offspring fecundity were found in this system. Their rather weak nature suggests, however, that this maternal effect alone does not have the potential of causing cyclic population dynamics in the autumnal moth.
Among cyclic populations of herbivores, inter-specific temporal synchrony has been attributed to both climatic factors and trophic interactions. In northern Europe, winter and autumnal moths undergo regular 9–11 year population cycles. The winter moth cycle has typically been phase-locked with that of the autumnal moth, but with a 1–3- year phase lag. We examined potential effects of natural enemies on this phase lag using field experiments and observational data. We found that larval parasitism was significantly higher in autumnal than in winter moths. Conversely, pupal predation by generalist invertebrates was clearly greater in winter than in autumnal moths. The difference in parasitism rates may contribute to the earlier collapse of the autumnal moth cycle. In addition, the phase lag may be strengthened by higher pupal mortality in winter moths in the early increase phase of the cycles. As a consequence, we put forward a hypothesis on reversed effects of natural enemies, providing a potential explanation for phase-lagged population cycles of these moth species.
Butterflies of the superfamilies Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea collected in the Cape Verde Islands and deposited in the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Lisbon, Portugal, were studied. Some novelties are reported at the insular level and one Palearctic species of Nymphalidae is reported for the first time in the islands. The identification of the only species of Colias (Pieridae) present in the Cape Verde Islands and its biogeographical affinities are discussed.
A survey of butterfly species was carried out on 12 islands of the Cape Verde archipelago (Brava, Cima, Fogo, Santiago, Maio, Boa Vista, Sal, São Nicolau, Raso, Santa Luzia, São Vicente, Santo Antão) during almost eight weeks in 2013. Results include the discovery of six species not previously recorded from the islands: Vanessa atalanta, V. vulcania, Junonia oenone, Danaus plexippus, Eurema brigitta and Azanus ubaldus. Known island distribution of some resident species is extended. Status of some long-standing (and questionable) historical records and probable misidentifications are discussed in detail. Data are presented with regard to habitat, habits and host-plants of all taxa, together with a table of species, islands, status and probable original geographical source. Entomological data from Cambridge University ornithological research on Raso between 2006 and 2014 are also included. Comment is made with regard to whether butterfly studies support inclusion of the Cape Verde Islands in ‘Macaronesia’ sensu lato.
Expeditions of Ron Brechlin, Viktor Synjaev, Mildred Márquez, Juan Machado, Oleg Romanov and other colleagues over the last five years in Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia have resulted in significant collections of Pterophoridae Zeller, 1841. The article describes five new species: Singularia brechlini Kovtunovich & Ustjuzhanin sp. nov., Singularia sinjaevi Kovtunovich & Ustjuzhanin sp. nov., Singularia guajiro Kovtunovich & Ustjuzhanin sp. nov., Singularia tolima Kovtunovich & Ustjuzhanin sp. nov. and Singularia lesya Kovtunovich & Ustjuzhanin sp. nov.