New larval host records for three species of leaf-mining weevils in the eastern USA
Abstract: Leafmining in early instars is newly reported for three species of tortricid moths in the eastern USA. Argyrotaenia amatana (Dyar) was reared from leaf-tying larvae found in association with recently vacated mines on Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc. (Rubiaceae) in Florida. Aterpia approximana (Heinrich) was reared from a larva mining in Samolus parviflorus Raf. (Primulaceae) in North Carolina, a new host and distribution record, and larvae were found in New England in similar mines on Lysimachia ciliata L., a known host for this moth.
A list of the top host plant genera for moths in North Carolina, based on the literature and data gathered by the Moths of NC website.
Over two decades ago, Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan conducted a multi-year survey of sites along the North Carolina coast as part of an effort to assess the impact of spraying to control the spread of the invasive Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) in the state. One of the sites that they heavily sampled was Carolina Beach State Park. Located south of Wilmington in New Hanover County, the park lies on a narrow strip of land between the Cape Fear River estuary and the ocean.
Nothing against butterflies, but moths are seriously underrated. Butterflies are but a strange, wonderful, and relatively small evolutionary branch of Lepidoptera, an order which is primarily made up of moths. Just look at our species totals for North Carolina: 178 species of butterflies and nearly 3,000 species of moths. We are continuously adding new moth species to the state list (the true moth biodiversity may be closer to 4,000 species), while the butterfly checklist remains static.
Abstract: The endangered St. Francis Satyr (Neonympha mitchellii francisci) is a small sedentary butterfly and one of the rarest in North America. Our study examined various quantitative aspects of this butterfly’s biology, including the distributional range, habitat associations, population size and trends, demographic parameters and spatial aspects of population structure. The range of N.m. francisci distribution is restricted to DoD lands at Ft.
Larvae of the New World gracillariid moth genus Marmara are primarily stem/bark miners, with some species mining in leaves or fruits. We describe a new species, M. viburnella Eiseman & Davis, which feeds on Viburnum, initially mining the leaves but completing development as a stem miner. The type series is from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, with observations of leaf mines indicating the species is widespread in the eastern USA.
We present novel rearing records of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from three years of collecting in North Carolina, USA. These include the first reported host for Calycomyza novascotiensis Spencer (new to the USA) and new host records for Ophiomyia beckeri (Hendel) (new to North America), Liriomyza helianthi Spencer, L. schmidti (Aldrich), and Phytomyza plantaginis Robineau-Desvoidy, all of which are reported from North Carolina for the first time. We review host and distribution data for each of these species and describe their leaf mines.