Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae): first distribution record from Chile and new host plant record

Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae): primer registro de distribución para Chile y nuevo registro de planta hospedera

SCIENTIFIC NOTE

Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae): first distribution record from Chile and new host plant record

Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae): primer registro de distribución para Chile y nuevo registro de planta hospedera

Héctor A. Vargas

Depto. Recursos Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Univ. Tarapacá, Casilla 6-D, Arica, Chile, Becario MECE Educación Superior, Ministerio de Educación, Gobierno de Chile, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, Univ. Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brasil, [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

The presence of Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) in Chile is reported for the first time from the Azapa valley, northern Chile. In this locality, some immature stages of M. leucodactyla were found to be associated with Tessaria absinthioides (Hook. & Arn.) DC., Asteraceae, a new host plant record at the species, genus and family level for M. leucodactyla.

Key words: Pterophoroidea, biogeography, Neotropic, Asteraceae, microlepidoptera

RESUMEN

Se reporta por primera vez la presencia de Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius) desde el valle de Azapa, norte de Chile. En esta localidad, los estados inmaduros de M. leucodactyla se asocian a Tessaria absinthioides (Hook. & Arn.) DC., Asteraceae, un nuevo registro de planta hospedera para M. leucodactyla, al nivel de especie, género y familia.

Palabras clave: Pterophoroidea, biogeografía, Neotrópico, Asteraceae, microlepidoptera

The microlepidoptera of Chile are poorly known, especially in the northern desert, where surveys have been notably scarce. Thus, it is not surprising that some families of microlepidopterans, such as the Pterophoridae, have never been reported before from the northern Chile.

The first known Chilean specimens of Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius) were bred from "brea" [=Tessaria absinthioides (Hook. & Arn.) DC. (Asteraceae)] in 1969. The six males bear the following data "Tarapacá, Azapa, Arica, 14-II-1969, coll: R. Mendoza, en brea" and are deposited in the "Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile" (IDEA). Then, in April 2006, in the Azapa valley (Arica) I collected at light two males and a female, now deposited in the "Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Santiago", Santiago, Chile (MNNC). These specimens were identified after dissection and comparison of the genitalia with the illustration provided by Gielis (1991) and Landry & Gielis (1992).

M. leucodactyla was known in the New World under the name M. defectalis (Walker) (Gielis 1991, Landry & Gielis 1992). The synonymy was introduced by Karsholt & Gielis (1995), and subsequently follows by Landry et al. (2004).

The most important taxonomic contribution concerning Chilean Pterophoridae was published by Gielis (1991). In this work, the genus Megalorhipida Amsel is not reported from Chile.

M. leucodactyla has a circum-tropical distribution (Bella & Ferrauto 2005). Its Neotropical range includes both the continental and insular territory (Gielis 1989, 1991; Landry & Gielis 1992).

The southernmost distribution records known for M. leucodactyla from the eastern part of the Andes in continental South America are from Salta (24º 79'S; 65º 41'W), Argentina (Gielis 1991). However, from the Pacific coast of South America, the southern limit of distribution previously known for M. leucodactyla is Ica (14º 03'S; 75º 44'W), Peru (Gielis 1991); a locality that is noticeably more northern than the Azapa valley.

Previous host plant records for M. leucodactyla indicate species in Amaranthaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Goodinaceae, Leguminosae, Nyctaginaceae (Bella & Ferrauto 2005), and Rosaceae (Matthews & Lott 2005). Thus, T. absinthioides is a new host plant record, at the species, genus and family level for of M. leucodactyla.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Giovanna Ferrauto, University of Catania, Catania, Italy, for sending literature; and Bernard Landry, Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Geneva, Switzerland, for sending literature and for very important comments about the manuscript.

Received 05/V/05. Accepted 04/IX/06.

• Bella, S. & G. Ferrauto. 2005. Presence of Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) in Sicily: New report for the Italian fauna and notes on the diffusion of its host plant Boerhavia repens L. ssp. viscosa (Choisy) Maire (Nyctaginaceae). Biol. Inv. 7: 557-565.
• Gielis, C. 1989. Neotropical Pterophoridae 1. The genus Megalorrhipida Amsel, 1935 (Lepidoptera). Phegea 17: 107-117.
• Gielis, C. 1991. A taxonomic review of the Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera) from Argentina and Chile. Zool. Verh. 269: 1-164.
• Karsholt, O. & C. Gielis. 1995. The Pterophoridae described by J.C. Fabricius, with remarks on type material of the Fabrician Lepidoptera. Steenstrupia 21: 31-35.
• Landry, B. & C. Gielis. 1992. A synopsis of the Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Zool. Verh. 276: 1-42.
• Landry, B., L. Roque-Albelo & D. Matthews. 2004. Supplemental additions to the Pterophoridae of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) with description of a new species of Adaina Tutt. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Suisse 77: 289-310.
• Matthews, D.L. & T.A. Lott. 2005. Larval host plants of the Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera: Pterophoroidea). Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 76, 324p.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  09 Aug 2007
• Date of issue
  June 2007

History

• Received
  05 May 2005
• Accepted
  04 Sept 2006