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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #406386
Research Project: Systematics of Beetles, Flies, Moths and Wasps with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: First pyraloid (Insecta, Lepidoptera) caterpillar from Dominican amber

Author
item Solis, M Alma
item LEGER, T - Museum Of Naturkunde
item NEUMANN, C - Museum Of Naturkunde

Submitted to: Nota Lepidopterologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/4/2023
Publication Date: 10/24/2023
Citation: Solis, M.A., Leger, T., Neumann, C. 2023. First pyraloid (Insecta, Lepidoptera) caterpillar from Dominican amber. Nota Lepidopterologia. 46:145-154. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.46.108745.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.46.108745

Interpretive Summary: The superfamily of snout moths is one of the largest, ecologically and economically most significant, extant superfamilies of moths. Only three fossils in this subfamily have been confirmed to date, two adults and one larva. Recently, another snout moth larva from Dominican amber has come to our attention. We describe the second confirmed larval fossil species based on larval morphological characters and place it in a subfamily. We discuss the contribution of the authoritatively identified fossils towards understanding the evolutionary history of snout moths. This work will be of interest to evolutionary biologists and paleontologists who use fossils as a molecular clock for estimates of divergence among different lineages of organisms.

Technical Abstract: Only three fossils in the Pyraloidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) have been confirmed to date, two adults and one larva. The first confirmed larva in the subfamily Pyraustinae (Crambidae) was described from Baltic amber. Recently, another pyraloid larva from Dominican amber has come to our attention. We describe this second confirmed larval fossil as Penestola wichardi sp. nov, Solis, Léger, and Neumann, based on larval morphological characters, such as setal patterns and the shape of their sclerotized bases or pinacula and place it in the subfamily Spilomelinae (Crambidae).