Titel
Host Plant Associations and Parasitism of South Ecuadorian Eois Species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) Feeding on Peperomia (Piperaceae)
Autor*in
Gunnar Brehm
Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
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Abstract
The very species-rich tropical moth genus Eois Hübner (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is a promising model group for studying host plant specialization and adaptive radiation. While most Eois species are assumed to be specialized herbivores on Piper L. species, records on other plant taxa such as Peperomia Ruiz & Pavón (Piperaceae) are still relatively scarce. Moreover, little is known about life history traits of most species, and only a few caterpillars have been described so far. We collected caterpillars associated with Peperomia (Piperaceae) host plants from June 2012 to January 2013 in three elevational bands of montane and elfin rainforests on the eastern slopes of the Andes in southern Ecuador. Caterpillars were systematically searched and reared to the adult stage. We were able to delimitate ten species of Eois on Peperomia by comparison of larval and adult morphology and by using 658 bp fragments of the mitochondrial COI gene (barcode sequences). Three of these species, Eois albosignata (Dognin), Eois bolana (Dognin), and Eois chasca (Dognin), are validly described whereas the other seven taxa represent interim morphospecies, recognized unequivocally by their DNA barcodes, and their larval and adult morphology. We provide information about their host plants, degree of parasitism, and describe the larval stages in their last instar. Additionally, caterpillars and moths are illustrated in color plates. This is the first comparative study dealing with Eois moths whose caterpillars feed on Peperomia hosts.
Stichwort
Andescaterpillarshost plantslarval morphologymountain rainforest
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:448333
Erschienen in
Titel
Journal of Insect Science
Band
15
Ausgabe
1
Seitenanfang
119
Verlag
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Erscheinungsdatum
2015
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