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In many tropical countries, lepidopterous stem borers are major pests of the rice crop. Study of the rice borers in Surinam, Rupela albinella and Diatraea saccharalis, was made in the Paramaribo area, at the experimental station 'CELOS' during 1971, 1972 and 1973, since data on the ecology and economic importance of these borers were incomplete and almost lacking for the small holders rice areas. Special attention was paid to the role of the parasites of these borers.I. R. albinellaThis 'white rice borer' deposits its scale-covered egg masses on the leaves. Newly hatched larvae disperse in a very active way both on plants and on the water surface and they may also use the flow of water. They bore into the stem cavity within 24 hours after hatching. Development to maturity takes place inside one internode. There are five larval instars and only the last two can not be separated by head capsule width. The full-grown larva cuts an exit opening in the stem wall for escape of the adult. The duration of the different developmental stages was determined.Normally the percentage of larvae which entered diapause proved to be very low. It was not clear which factor was reponsible for diapause induction. A correlation with a slightly higher temperature (about 2°C) was detected but the data are still too limited to accept the temperature as a basic factor.Moths are active during darkness and are attracted by ordinary incandescent light, but are seldom captured during the period of full moon.Since Rupela requires an adequate stem cavity for its development, rice plants become vulnerable to attack only 60 days after sowing when a proper internodal space may be present. Rice varieties having a total growth period of only 105 days automatically possess an 'escape resistance', because the larval and pupal development takes about 50 days.Generally R. albinella is well adapted to the rice plant. Crop losses are very small since the stem tissue is only attacked superficially.Four parasites of R. albinella were found, viz.:1. Telenomus sp., an egg parasite with a short life cycle. This insect was not further studied.2. Venturia ovivenans, an egg-larval parasite with a high reproduction capacity, parasitizes the eggs. The growth of the parasite larva is moderate until the host is full-grown. Rapid growth follows and the larva leaves its host and pupates inside the stem.Development of host and parasite are well sychronized, both in nondiapause and diapause situations. The average time of emergence of the wasp is two days earlier than of the moth.The species is very common throughout Surinam.3. Strabotes rupelae, a larval and pupal parasite, deposits its eggs near the fullgrown host larva or pupa. The wasp even crawls into the water in search for hosts. The ectoparasitic larva grows very rapidly and sucks out its host. The duration of the life cycle is one third that of the host. The adult life span may be as long as two months.The parasite was quite common at the 'CELOS' research centre with its continuous rice cultivation program.4. Heterospilus sp., a gregarious and ectoparasitic wasp, lays its eggs in the stem cavity near a full-grown host larva. Larval growth is very rapid and the total life cycle is one third of that of its host.The parasite was common at the 'CELOS' research centre.The interactions between R. albinella and its parasites are schematically given in Figure 15.The greatest mortality occurs in the L 1 during dispersal and penetration of the host plant. Later on, the effect of parasites as well as pupal mortality are important.The succession of the generations of the borer and its parasites under the 'CELOS' continuous rice cultivation system is given in Figure 18. Over a period of slightly more than two years, borer infestation slowly increased whereas parasitization of the borer slowly decreased. The percentage composition of the parasitic complex remained stable in these two years.II. D. saccharalisAn existing aseptical diet for the 'brown borer' was improved and made it possible to rear large numbers of borers. The following good rearing results were obtained: total developmental time (35-38 days), pupal weights (males 75 mg, females 125 mg) and egg production (400 eggs/female). A clear correlation was found between pupal weight and egg production.It was not possible to accurately separate the 6 larval instars by means of head capsule width. The behaviour of the larvae was followed. Moths emerged before midnight and sometimes copulated the same night. A male copulates once a night and at most, three successive nights. Copulation always occurs late in the night. The first eggs are laid the night after mating.Larval and pupal mortality was very high under field circumstances.Agathis stigmaterus was the only important parasite. It was reared in large quantities in host larvae feeding on the diet mentioned above. The wasp deposits its eggs in 6-14 day-old hosts. An average of 100 hosts were parasitized per wasp. The parasite first grows slowly; it then leaves the nearly full-grown host and sucks it out within a few hours. There is a good synchronization between the host and the parasite. Only 2 % of the wasps were males.Ant nests were present in about 15 % of the rice hills. These ants, Paratrechina sp., feed on the young borer larvae.Although D.saccharalis incidentally may cause some local losses, the overall damage is negligible.

In apple growing areas, in the Netherlands, Panonychus ulmi Koch and Adoxophyes orana FvR. are the most important pests. Preliminary experiments had shown that P. ulmi could be controlled by predators, but these predators are killed by insecticide sprayings against other pests.As A. orana had already been cultured on an artificial medium, the application of the population sterilization technique was within the realms of possibility. However, the high population density of the species was a disadventage. But if this was counterbalanced by a poor capacity for dispersal, the application of this technique, on a small scale, would be possible. In a simulation model, it was demonstrated that only 100 immigrants per generation per ha, was already too high to make the technique feasible.Three modes of dispersal could be expected: flight, aerial transport of larvae with wind and transport of larvae together with plants and packaging materials. The last possibility was not investigated, it was assumed that it could be reduced to a great extent by appropriate measures.Dispersal by flight was studied in release-recapture experiments. The released moths were cultured on a meridic diet. For marking, either 32P or the dye Calco oil red D was added to the medium. In order to recapture the moths, light traps and sex traps were used. The experiments were carried out in several places, an open field, orchards, and hedgerows. The results obtained indicated that the movement from the release points was small. The greatest distance at which a male was recaptured in these experiments was 250 m. Only in the experiment in which 75500 males were released homogeneously throughout an orchard of 1.5 ha, were the distances, at which males were still recovered, somewhat greater, but the maximum distance was 435 m. For this particular experiment it was calculated that about 1 to 2 percent of the males had left the orchard. It is assumed that, for this kind of biotope, this a representative percentage.In light traps, in general, the numbers of males captured were higher than the numbers of females captured. This could be the result of, either a lower flight activity of the females compared to the males, or an eventual difference in the diurnal flight period of males an females. In laboratory experiments, evidence was obtained for both possibilities.Concerning larval dispersal by means of wind, only qualitative data were obtained. It was demonstrated that it occurs frequently and that characteristic behaviour elements are involved. The larva spins a silken thread when it drops off from a leaf. This thread can be broken by the force of the wind, exerted on the thread. It subsequently breaks near the end at which it is attached to the leaf. The buoyancy of the larva in the air depends on the length of the thread. It was demonstrated that wind velocities of more than 3 m per sec have an immobilizing effect on the locomotion of the newly-hatched larvae. It is likely that this behaviour protects the larva against being blown away from the leaf, with a very short thread. Experiments on phototaxis and geotaxis yielded indications that the behaviour of young larvae makes them vulnerable to this mode of dispersal. The behaviour of older larvae was different in this respect. It is likely that, because of the greater weight, the chances for aerial transport of older larvae are reduced. In a qualitative way, aerial transport can be important. At 20 °C and 70 % R.H. the newly-hatched larva can survive 6 hours starvation. With an air speed of 2 m per sec, transport over more than 40 km is possible. The quantative aspects will be determined by the vegetation that surrounds the egg-mass. In an orchard, a large proportion of the larvae will be sieved out from the air, by the surrounding trees.A. orana has a wide hostplant range. In preliminary experiments the possibility of a variability of response towards different hostplants was investigated. No indications were found.When there is no variability in response towards apple, between A. orana in orchards and A. orana in other biotopes, it is important to know the population densities in these biotopes, especially in the fruit growing areas, where eventually the population sterilization technique is going to be applied. The population densities were estimated in 23 different places, hedgerows, lanes and woods, by releasing a known number of marked moths into the wild population. From the numbers recaptured by means of sex traps, the number of moths of the wild population was calculated, with the aid of the Lincoln-index. The density in woods was found to be lower than the average population density in orchards, but for some hedgerows higher densities were calculated. The calculated densities were highest when a great part of the hedgerows consisted of alder ( Alnus spp.) or hawthorn ( Crateagus sp.).The conclusion of these studies was, that with regard to the dispersal of the adults, there is a fair chance that the population sterilization technique can be applied on a small scale, when the area is surrounded by a zone of 500 m, free from other populations of A.orana. If this is not possible, sterilized adults also have to be released in these populations. In this conclusion, the dispersal of larvae by wind, is not taken into consideration. It is assumed that quantitatively, this mode of dispersal is of minor importance.

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Peragrarchis martirea (Carposinidae), Epermenia senaciae (Epermeniidae), Opogona transversata and Tineovertex flavilineata (Tineidae) are described as new species, and Idioglossa bigemma mascarena (Batrachedridae) as a new subspecies, from the Mascarene island of La Réunion, and Mauritius. Eleven species are new for the fauna of La Réunion, two are new for the fauna of Mauritius. New host plants are reported for twelve species. Opogona reunionella Guillermet, 2011 was found to be a new synonym of Opogona siccata (Meyrick, 1910), based on the study of type material and additional specimens. Keywords Lepidoptera, Autostichidae, Bedellidae, Batrachedridae, Carposinidae, Epermeniidae, Gelechiidae, Tineidae, Tortricidae, Mascarenes, taxonomy, new species, new synonym, additional records. Nomenclatural Acts senaciae Bippus, 2016 (Epermenia), spec. nov. bigemma mascarena Bippus, 2016 (Idioglossa), sspec. nov. transversata Bippus, 2016 (Opogona), spec. nov. martirea Bippus, 2016 (Peragrarchis), spec. nov. flavilineata Bippus, 2016 (Tineovertex), spec. nov., Contributions to Entomology = Beiträge zur Entomologie, Bd. 66 Nr. 2 (2016)

Mount Cameroon, SW Cameroon, has already been described as a unique hotspot of the many-plumed moth (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae), with their local diversity unrivalled in the entire Afrotropics. We confirm its importance with description of seven new species: Alucita bakweri Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita jana Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita bakingili Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita tatjana Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita zuza Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita deja Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., and Alucita bokwango Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. These descriptions have raised the known local diversity of many-plumed moth species on Mount Cameroon to 22, i.e., over a quarter of the known Afrotropical biodiversity of this group. This study also emphasises the great conservation importance of the area.

Background Despite the great importance of lepidopteran wing patterns in various biological disciplines, homologies between wing pattern elements in different moth and butterfly lineages are still not understood. Among other reasons, this may be due to an incomplete understanding of the relationship between color pattern and wing venation; many individual wing pattern elements have a known relationship with venation, but a framework to unite all wing pattern elements with venation is lacking. Though plesiomorphic wing veins are known to influence color patterning even when not expressed in the adult wing, most studies of wing pattern evolution have focused on derived taxa with a reduced suite of wing veins. Results The present study aims to address this gap through an examination of Micropterigidae, a very early-diverged moth family in which all known plesiomorphic lepidopteran veins are expressed in the adult wing. The relationship between wing pattern and venation was examined in 66 species belonging to 9 genera. The relationship between venation and pattern element location, predicted based on moths in the family Tortricidae, holds for Sabatinca just as it does for Micropterix. However, the pattern elements that are lightly colored in Micropterix are dark in Sabatinca, and vice-versa. When plotted onto a hypothetical nymphalid wing in accordance with the relationship between pattern and venation discussed here, the wing pattern of Sabatinca doroxena very closely resembles the nymphalid groundplan. Conclusions The color difference in pattern elements between Micropterix and Sabatinca indicates that homologies exist among the contrast boundaries that divide wing pattern elements, and that color itself is not a reliable indicator of homology. The similarity between the wing pattern of Sabatinca doroxena and the nymphalid groundplan suggests that the nymphalid groundplan may have originated from a Sabatinca-like wing pattern subjected to changes in wing shape and reduced expression of venation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0687-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Microlepidoptera In the British Museum (Natural History) described by Edward Meyrick. By J. F. Gates Clarke. Vol. 1. Pp. vii + 332 + 4 plates. 60s. Vol. 2: Stenomidae, Xyloryctidae, Copromorphidae. Pp. iv + 531 (263 plates). 120s. (London: British Museum (Natural History), 1955.)

Identification of mounted specimens of Microlepidoptera is facilitated by good spreading technique. Although the larger specimens may be readily spread on a standard spreading board, small specimens present a problem. A special technique has been developed whereby small moths may be successfully spread and mounted on double-mount pins.

Head rough tufted on crown, face smooth. Antennae four-fifths the length of the fore wings, basal segment slightly thickened, with pecten. Labial palpi moderately long, drooping, filiform, blunt pointed. Maxillary palpi minute. Middle tibiae with closely appressed scales. Posterior tibiae with closely appressed scales above, short loose hairs beneath. Fore wings lanceolate, elongate; 3 absent, 4 absent, 5 and 6 long stalked, 8 connate with 7, 9 twice as far removed from 8 as from 10, 11 absent. Hind wings about one-half, linear lanceolate; 3 absent, 4 absent, 5 and 6 stalked.

LEPIDOPTERISTS throughout the world will learn with deep regret of the death on March 31, in his eighty-fourth year, of Edward Meyrick, in his time the greatest authority and the most prolific writer on the Microlepidoptera.

(1) The number of species of larval agromyzids (Diptera: Agromyzidae) mining plants in the family-Umbelliferae within the British Isles is reviewed. (2) A regression of the number of agromyzid species (S) on the geographical range of each plant (measured in 10 km squares, A) (leS + 1 vs leA) is highly significant, but explains only 32% of the variance. Several other 'species-area' curves are similar in this respect. (3) Geometric mean size of the plants, leaf-form (both measures of plant 'architecture'), and whether or not they grow in aquatic habitats explains some of the residual variation, but approximately 50% remains unexplained. (4) A wide variety of other characteristics of the plants, and their associated fauna (potential competitors and natural enemies) had no detectable influence on the number of Agromyzidae. Factors examined include taxonomic isolation, whether the plants were annual, biennial or perennial, the number of species of potentially competing microlepidoptera, and the number of species of parasitoids. (5) We suggest that the number of agromyzid species on many common and widespread umbellifers is considerably below the number that could finally evolve to exploit these plants, and that guilds of specialized leaf-miners are not 'equilibrium assemblages'.

Most of the animal species have developed specific feeding habits, and this applies especially to the larvae of leaf-mining Lepidoptera. The genus Nepticula comprises about 60 species of minute moths. In general, the forewing is purple to black with a transverse, golden or silvery band. Because of this similarity of pattern, it is often impossible to identify many of the species in the adult stage. The larvae mine within the tissues of leaves, usually just beneath the upper epidermis, consuming the palisade layer of cells. Each of the species feeds in a characteristic manner. For example, N. rosaefoliella Clem. forms a serpentine mine usually along the edge of a rose leaf, and N. juglandifoliella Clem. forms a linear mine along a vein. The mine of an undescribed species on elm starts as a semi-serpentine track and abruptly enlarges into a viscera-like blotch; that of another undescribed species on willow terminates in an irregular blotch; and so on. Each species engraves its own symbolic characters, and whoever has learned to read the symbols can readily determine the species that made them.

The foregoing presentation of species in given genera among several families of the Microlepidoptera show clearly that eggs of species in a given genus resemble each other closely. This similarity also appears to be present among some genera of the Limacodidae, see Fig. 1-6. It is highly probable that similarity among species in a given genus will also be true of those genera represented in this publication by one species.

Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Microlepidoptera in the British Museum (Natural History) described by Edward Meyrick By J. F. Gates Clarke. Vol. 5. Pp. 581 (283 plates). (London: British Museum (Natural History), 1965.) 300s.

This publication describes, discusses, and illustrates eggs of moths that belong to the Ethmiidae, Acrolophidae, and Hepialidae. It is a continuation of studies made on eggs from 15 families of the microlepidoptera published in The Florida Entomologist during 1963(B), 1965, and 1967. The techniques employed to locate, collect or produce eggs, to record all pertinent factors, and prepare photographs are similar to those used and discussed in the numerous papers the author has published on eggs of insects, especially eggs of moths, which have appeared in The Florida Entomologist from 1960 to 1967. The 30 or more species of moths that belong to the Ethmiidae in the United States and Canada are represented here by two species of Ethmia captured at black light lures located near Portal, Arizona. The females deposited their eggs on the interior of polyethylene bags. The eggs of the two species seen, except for a small difference in size and color, resemble each other closely especially in their manner of deposition and structural details. The family Acrolophidae in Canada and the United States according to McDunnough possesses 45 species and all belong to one genus, Acrolophus. Eggs of eight or more species have been seen and all resemble each other closely. All are under 0.5 mm in length, nearly spherical, non adhesive, and roll about freely, when deposited in a vial or polyethylene bag. All are near white when deposited. Most species within 6 to 48 hours after deposition change to a dark color which may be dark grey, brown, or near black. The light colored phase in each species may be a trifle larger (0.05-0.1 mm) than the dark form. The chorion of all species seen possesses 20 to 24 narrow elevated lines which extend lengthwise between the two somewhat smooth ends of the egg. The females seen to date, that produced eggs, were collected in numbers in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan at black-light lures or traps. For Hepialidae see Fig. 8.

Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Microlepidoptera in the British Museum (Natural History) described by Edward Meyrick By J. F. Gates Clarke. Vol. 3: Tortricidae; Olethreutidae; Noctuidae. Pp. iv + 600. (London: British Museum (Natural History), 1958.) 120s.

One of the very few families of the higher moths whose early stages have not been critically studied is the Hyblaeidae, with the single tropical genus Hyblaea. This genus was formerly placed as a subfamily of the Noctuidae and earlier was associated with forms commonly called Pseudodeltoids. Later when we came to study the thoracic characters we found it could not belong to the Noctuidae, and in Comstock's “Introduction” we placed it after the Pyraloids. Heinrich and Busck, who have examined the male genitalia, find more resemblance to the true microlepidoptera.