Sampling to Assess a Re-Established Appalachian Forest in Ohio Based on Gelechioid Moths (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea)

A list of microlepidoptera belonging to the superfamily Gelechioidea was produced from June trap samples from sites within the Wayne National Forest (Lawrence County), an Appalachian forest in Southern Ohio that was once a greatly disturbed area and has since re-established over a period of nearly 100 years. The composition and diversity of Lawrence county is compared to lists of gelechioid moths generated by other surveys in the eastern United States: the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an Ohio study (Summerville and Crist 2003), and unpublished data from Connecticut (Wagner). From comparison with these studies, we address two questions: (1) How well do passive surveys of Gelechioidea compare to more labor intensive surveys? (2) How does the regenerated Wayne National Forest compare to other well documented areas with respect to gelechioid diversity? Our sample of diversity, though more narrow in time and area, compares favorably to more exhaustive sampling and demonstrates that it may be more efficient to focus on target groups in focal localities when time and resources are limited rather than conduct extensive sampling programs.     

The Hawaiian amphibious caterpillar guild: new species of Hyposmocoma (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae) confirm distinct aquatic invasions and complex speciation patterns

Although aquatic caterpillars are a globally rare lifestyle, we have found them in multiple, independent lineages of the endemic moth genus Hyposmocoma across all of the Hawaiian Islands with flowing water. We formally describe 11 new species of Hyposmocoma that belong to four different larval case types: cone, bugle, medium burrito, and large burrito: Hyposmocoma kahamanoa sp. nov. from Oahu Island, Hyposmocoma kamakou sp. nov. from Molokai Island, Hyposmocoma kahaiao sp. nov. , Hyposmocoma waihohonu sp. nov. , and Hyposmocoma moopalikea sp. nov. from Maui Island, and Hyposmocoma aumakuawai sp. nov. , Hyposmocoma eepawai sp. nov. , Hyposmocoma ipowainui sp. nov. , Hyposmocoma kawaikoi sp. nov. , Hyposmocoma uhauiole sp. nov. , and Hyposmocoma wailua sp. nov. from Kauai Island. We also illustrate and describe in detail the aquatic case‐bearing larva of Hyposmocoma kahamanoa. Despite having similar ecologies as algae and lichen grazers at and below the water line of streams, prior research indicates that species with each case type constitute an independent lineage, with terrestrial sister taxa, and therefore the different groups of species bearing unique case types each represent an independent aquatic invasion. The case‐bearing larvae often occur sympatrically, and on Kauai even species with similar case‐types occur together, suggesting complex patterns of speciation and either past periods of isolation or sympatric speciation. Phylogenetic analysis of 2243 base pairs from two nuclear and one mitochondrial gene for 18 species confirm that each species is endemic to a single volcano, and that morphological divergence within case‐types has not been dramatic. Diversification has been complex, and superficially similar case type lineages are not all monophyletic. Kauai, the oldest but smallest of the major high islands, supports more species in the aquatic guild than any other island, thus island age, rather than size, may be important in generating diversity in this group. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 162 , 15–42.     

中国鳞翅目小蛾类昆虫寄主植物分析

本研究基于中国鳞翅目50科小蛾类昆虫的寄主植物数据,探索小蛾类昆虫与其寄主植物之间的关系。对昆虫种数与寄主植物种数之间进行了相关性分析,采用了z分数法对原始数据进行标准化处理以及利用箱式图对数据进行异常值检测,并对检测的结果分科进行食性分析。昆虫种数与寄主植物种数呈极显著正相关(P0.01),相关系数为0.860;异常值检测结果显示蝙蝠蛾科、细蛾科、祝蛾科、织蛾科、斑蛾科、羽蛾科、卷蛾科和草螟科8科数据异常;这8科小蛾类昆虫除了织蛾科和祝蛾科以腐食性为主外都是植食性,其中植食性昆虫包括单食性的斑蛾科,寡食性的羽蛾科和细蛾科以及多食性的蝙蝠蛾科。而卷蛾科中黄卷蛾族和小卷蛾族的幼虫以多食性较为常见,花小卷蛾族幼虫则以单食性为主。草螟科中斑野螟亚科和禾螟亚科以单食性为主;草螟亚科和野螟亚科以寡食性为主。中国小蛾类昆虫与其寄主植物种数之间存在着正相关关系;研究结果为小蛾类分类研究以及农林害虫防治奠定了理论基础。