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Title: First report of Hecatera Dysodea (Denis and Schiffermuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Pacific Northwest of the United States

Author
item Landolt, Peter
item WORTH, RICHARD - Oregon Department Of Agriculture
item ZACK, RICHARD - Washington State University

Submitted to: Journal of Lepidopterists Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2010
Publication Date: 12/1/2010
Citation: Landolt, P.J., Worth, R.A., Zack, R.S. 2010. First report of Hecatera Dysodea (Denis and Schiffermuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Journal of Lepidopterists Society. 64(4):192-196.

Interpretive Summary: A number of moths in the cutworm family, Noctuidae, are pests of vegetable crops throughout the U.S., including potato. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Washington monitor for the presence of numerous pest species of moths that may damage potato and other vegetable crops. In collaboration with scientists at Washington State University, Pullman, and the Oregon State Department of Agriculture, Salem, they determined that a moth native to Europe, Hecatera dysodea, is present in northern Oregon and southern Washington and appears to be increasing in numbers and distribution. The larvae of this moth are found on the flower heads of species of wild lettuce. These are the first records for this moth in North America. This information will be useful to growers in the vegetable seed industry who may become at risk for a new cutworm pest.

Technical Abstract: New geographic records are reported for the noctuid moth Hecatera dysodea (Denis & Schiffermuller). It is a Paleartic species, but is now found in a broadly contiguous area of Oregon and Washington in the United States. This area is comprised of 7 counties across much of the north of Oregon and into 4 counties of southern Washington. Moths were captured in several types of survey traps baited with insect pheromones and feeding attractants, as well as blacklight traps, from 2003 to 2009. Larvae were collected on flower stalks of prickly lettuce, Lactuca serriola L. (Asteraceae), from June into September, indicating multivoltinism. Collection records over time indicate a possibly rapidly expanding distribution of the species.