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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #249399

Title: Goat Moths (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) of the Hanford Site and Hanford National Monument, Washington State

Author
item ZACK, RICHARD - Washington State University
item Landolt, Peter
item STRENGE, DENNIS - Retired Non ARS Employee

Submitted to: Pan Pacific Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/31/2009
Publication Date: 12/31/2009
Citation: Zack, R.S., Landolt, P.J., Strenge, D. 2009. Goat Moths (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) of the Hanford Site and Hanford National Monument, Washington State. Pan Pacific Entomology. 85(4):182-186.

Interpretive Summary: Many species of moths are pests of agricultural crops, including temperate tree fruit crops. Better information is needed on the diverse and complex local moth fauna and the distributions of these moths outside of cropping systems. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Washington, in collaboration with scientists at Washington State University, Pullman, studied the moth fauna of an undisturbed temperate desert within the Hanford Nuclear site and Hanford Reach National Monument, and within a few miles of extensive irrigated agriculture. They found three species of goat moths, a group that includes species that bore into the trunks of shrubs and trees, in this desert area. Two of the species were not known to be in the state of Washington, and the third is a widespread pest species called the carpenterworm. This information clarifies what types of moths, both non-pests and pests, exist and reproduce within this habitat, and is helpful in interpreting potential sources of pests that might contribute to crop damage.

Technical Abstract: Three species of goat moths are recorded at the Hanford Nuclear Site and Hanford National Monument in south central Washington State. They are: Comadia bertholdi (Grote), 1880, Givira cornelia (Neumoegen & Dyar), 1893, and Prionoxystus robiniae (Peck), 1818. The general habitat of the Hanford area is shrub-steppe but there are extensive areas of sand dune as well as limited riparian habitat. These are the first Washington records for C. bertholdi and G. cornelia. Comadia bertholdi also is first recorded here from Yakima County, Washington. Flight period dates are presented for all collections.