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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #290637
Title: Review of Aesiocopa Zeller, 1877, with the descriptions of two new species (Tortricidae: Sparganothini)

Author
item Brown, John

Submitted to: Journal of Lepidopterists Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/2013
Publication Date: 1/10/2014
Publication URL: http://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/2010s/2014/2014-68-1-001.pdf
Citation: Brown, J.W. 2014. Review of Aesiocopa Zeller, 1877, with the descriptions of two new species (Tortricidae: Sparganothini). Journal of Lepidopterists Society. 68(1):1-9.

Interpretive Summary: The larvae or caterpillars of many species of small moths in the family commonly known as “leaf-rollers” are economically important pests of fruit and vegetable crops, nuts, grains, timber trees, ornamental plants, and landscaping. A group of these moths that occurs from Mexico to Panama is examined, and two new species are recognized and named. One of the new species is documented to feed on 12 different plant families, including many that include crop plants. These findings will be of interest to ecologists studying plant-insect interactions, to scientists involved in biodiversity studies, and to USDA-APHIS personnel at U.S. ports-of-entry, whose duties include the detection and exclusion of potential invasive species.

Technical Abstract: The formerly monotypic genus Aesiocopa Zeller, 1877 is reviewed. Three species are included: A. vacivana Zeller, 1877 (type species) from Panama; A. necrofolia Brown & Phillips, new species, from Mexico and Costa Rica; and A. grandis Brown, new species, from Costa Rica. The genus is recorded sparingly from Mexico to Panama. Although A. vacivana and A. grandis are known from only a handful of specimens, A. necrofolia has been reared from larvae numerous times in Costa Rica and from 12 different plant families: Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Hernandiaceae, Icacinaceae, Lauraceae, Myrsinaceae, Myrtaceae, Piperaceae, Rubiaceae, Salicaceae, Smilacaceae, and Urticaceae. The abundance of rearing records suggests that the species is polyphagous, and the paucity of field-collected adults suggests that it may not be avidly attracted to light. The same may be true for its congeners.