Wednesday, 29 October 2003 - 2:36 PM
0989

This presentation is part of : Ten-Minute Papers, Section A. Systematics, Morphology, and Evolution

New musotimines (Crambidae: Pyraloidea) feeding on Old World climbing fern

M. Alma Solis, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, National Museum Natural History, E-517, MRC 168, Washington, DC, Shen-Horn Yen, Imperial College London, Department of Biological Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire, United Kingdom, and John H. Goolsby, Australian Biological Control Laboratory, USDA, ARS, 120 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, Queensland, Australia.

New musotimine taxa were discovered during exploration for natural enemies of Old World climbing fern, Lygodium microphyllum(Cav.) R. Br., in Australia and southeastern Asia. The adults, immatures, and biology are described. One described species, "Ambia" conspurcatalis, is redescribed, and its immatures and biology are described for the first time. "Cataclysta" camptozonale(Hampson) was found to be highly specific to this aggressive fern and was tested as a biological control agent. This moth species was misplaced in a European genus in another subfamily, so we propose a new genus to accommodate this species. The syntype series of Oligostigma camptozonale was a mixture of specimens of the former species (sensu stricto ) and its sibling, O. metastictalis (Hampson). The immature stages of these taxa are described and compared to musotimines with known immatures. Incongruent results between immature and adult characters is discussed.

Species 1: Lepidoptera Crambidae Ambia conspurcatalis
Species 2: Lepidoptera Crambidae Cataclysta camptozonale
Species 3: Lepidoptera Crambidae Oligostigma metastictalis
Keywords: Old World climbing fern, southeast Asia

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