denver museum of nature & science reports denver … · 2019-08-26 · jurate de prins royal...

Program and Abstracts

First North AmericanMicrolepidopterists’ Meeting

July 5, 2016Denver Museum of Nature & Science

David J. Bettman (Ed.)

2001 Colorado Boulevard Denver, CO 80205

Frank Krell, PhD, Editor and Production

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS

WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS

DEN

VER M

USEU

M O

F NA

TURE &

SCIEN

CE REPO

RTS • NU

MBER 4

• JULY 5

, 20

16

Cover photo: Cameraria ohridella (Gracillariidae)

reared from leaf mine on Aesculus hippocastanum L.

(horse-chestnut), Austria, March 1992.

Photo: Todd Gilligan.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (ISSN

2374-7730 [print], ISSN 2374-7749 [online]) is an open-

access, non peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing

papers about DMNS research, collections, or other

Museum related topics, generally authored or co-authored

by Museum staff or associates. Peer review will only be

arranged on request of the authors.

The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/Science/

Museum-Publications free of charge. Paper copies are

exchanged via the DMNS Library exchange program

([email protected]) or are available for purchase

from our print-on-demand publisher Lulu (www.lulu.com).

DMNS owns the copyright of the works published in the

Reports, which are published under the Creative Commons

Attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial use of

published material contact the Alfred M. Bailey Library &

Archives at [email protected].

Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports

(Print) ISSN 2374-7730


(Online) ISSN 2374-7749



NUMBER 4, JULY 5, 2016

Acanthopteroctetes aurulenta male

(Acanthopteroctetidae) Gilpin Co., Colorado,

22.vii.2014, leg. Barbara Bartell.

Photo: David Bettman.

Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata female

(Acanthopteroctetidae), Gilpin Co., Colorado,

09–10.vi.2015, leg. Barbara Bartell.



First North American Microlepidopterists’ Meeting

July 5, 2016, Denver Museum of Nature & Science



Edited byDavid J. Bettman1

1Department of Zoology

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

2001 Colorado Boulevard

Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, USA

[email protected]

CONTENTS

Program 2

Abstracts—Oral Presentations 3

Abstracts—Workshop 6

The meeting was organized by Vazrick Nazari, David Bettman, and Todd Gilligan and was hosted by Frank-T. Krell at the Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

3DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 4, July 5, 20162 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 4, July 5, 2016

1st North American Micolepidopterists’ MeetingBettman

PROGRAM

Tuesday, July 5

9:00am–9:15am: Frank Krell: Welcome and Introduction (Ludlow Griffith Workshop Zoology, Level B2)

9:15am–10:55am: Contributed Talks (B2)9:15am–9:40am: Mari Kekkonen: Sorting the mess of micros: How DNA barcodes can help with specimen identification9:40am–10:05am: Todd Gilligan, Peter Huemer & Benjamin Wiesmair: Different continents, same species? Resolving the taxonomy of some Holarctic Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)10:05am–10:30am: Vazrick Nazari: The identity of the South American potato tuber moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)10:30am–10:55am: Jurate De Prins: Online Global Gracillariidae database – a web-based tool expanding the user audience beyond taxonomists

10:55am–11:15am: Break (DMNS main floor)

11:15am–1:20pm: Contributed Talks (B2)11:15am–11:40am: David Bettman: New and interesting microlepidoptera of Colorado11:40am–12:05pm: Stephanie Shank: Collecting microlepidoptera in Baja California, Mexico12:05am–12:30pm: David G. Holden: Encounters with the moths of British Columbia12:30pm–12:55pm: Marc E. Epstein: Dyar’s breakup of the ‘Bombyces’ (1894-1896) and modern classification of microlepidoptera12:55pm–1:20pm: Brian G. Scholtens & M. Alma Solis: New North American check list for Pyraloidea

1:20pm–2:20pm: Lunch (on your own)

2:20pm–5:00pm: Workshops and Access to the DMNS Collections (B2)2:20pm–3:05pm: Sangmi Lee: Whole-body dissection of microlepidoptera3:05pm–3:50pm: Chris Grinter & Todd Gilligan: Spreading techniques for microlepidoptera

3:50pm–4:10pm: Break (DMNS main floor)

4:10pm–5:00pm: Workshops and Access to the DMNS Collections (B2)4:10pm–5:00pm: David Bettman (facilitator): Round-table discussion: Making and customizing field equipment for microleps and microlep rearing techniques

5:00pm: Dinner (at a local restaurant)



ABSTRACTS—ORAL PRESENTATIONS

New and interesting microlepidoptera of Colorado

David BettmanDepartment of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, [email protected]

The microlepidopteran fauna of Colorado is still far from fully explored. The primitive moth family Acan-thopteroctetidae is here confirmed for the state, with two species present (Acanthopteroctetes aurulenta and A. bimaculata) on the Colorado Front Range. Many additional Coloradan microlep taxa will be discussed and illustrated (Hepialidae, Prodoxidae, Ypsolophidae, Douglasiidae, Pterolonchidae, Depressariidae, Pyrali-dae, Crambidae, etc.) documenting new state records, probable introductions, new life history data, and more.

Online Global Gracillariidae database—a web-based tool expanding the user audi-ence beyond taxonomists

Jurate De PrinsRoyal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautier-straat 29, B-1000 Brussels, [email protected]

Online verified, concise, searchable and updated taxo-nomic databases can serve as a foundational basis for taxonomic scientific hypotheses and also for a wide range of biological and ecological disciplines. A consen-sus has already been achieved among the lepidopterist community that taxon delimitation and designation processes are tested as a scientific hypothesis on mul-tiple kinds of evidence (e.g. morphological, molecular, biological, ecological, behavioral etc.). Taxonomy can profit a lot from newly developed techniques that are

leading to increasingly more integration of data. Most attention now focuses on linking the different data components of interacting species assemblages. There is no doubt that molecular tools will allow the incor-poration of new dimensions into existing taxonomic datasets. The application of taxonomic and molecular tools is leading to more accurate hypotheses on food webs and community ecology. Due to their highly specialized trophic relationships and their way of ecological behavior, the family of leaf-mining moths Gracillariidae is probably one of the richest of difficult case studies in food web interactions. I would like to present an online tool available from www.gracillari-idae.net which allows for assembling and linking all available taxonomic data on gracillariid species, their host plants, and their parasitoids in a structured and searchable format. I shall present some examples on cryptic interactions between plants, gracillariid moths and their parasitoids in Africa. I shall emphasize the significance of a careful case-by-case approach in assessing the multi-trophic interactions.

Dyar’s breakup of the ‘Bombyces’ (1894–1896) and modern classification of microlepidoptera

Marc E. EpsteinPlant Pest Diagnostics Center, California Department of Food & Agriculture, Sacramento, California 95832, [email protected]

The contributions to the higher classification of Lepidop-tera by Harrison G. Dyar, Jr., born 150 years ago, have been largely forgotten. My talk provides a brief account of this work and how it came to be. After receiving a B.S. in Chem-istry at M.I.T. (1889), Dyar took two lengthy collecting trips across North America on which he reared a number of caterpillars. Near the end he wrote of needing more education in biology, and decided on spending another year at M.I.T. and a summer at Woods Hole Biological Station. In 1893–94 Dyar attended Columbia for his M.S.,

mailto:[email protected]





while completing with Neumoegen a catalogue of ‘Bom-byces’, the group in which many macrolepidoptera were placed. For his M.S. project Dyar was likely encouraged by his professors to use a Darwinian approach to his studies on Lepidoptera. To pursue a new larval-based classifica-tion, one that forms the foundation of our current system of microlepidoptera, Dyar acquired additional specimens of many Lepidoptera families through colleagues in N. America and Europe. Dyar used a hypothesis on the evolu-tionary transformation of larval setae as the basis for his classification, and to further delineate Comstock’s (1893), which used wing latching mechanisms and venation. This led to the shift of groups formerly lumped in the ‘Bomby-ces’ (e.g., Megalopygidae, Limacodidae) to being placed with families considered to be microlepidoptera.

Different continents, same species? Resolving the taxonomy of some Holarctic Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Todd Gilligan*Identification Technology Program, USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T, 2301 Research Blvd., Suite 108, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, [email protected]

Peter HuemerTiroler Landesmuseen Betriebgsges.m.b.H., Natur-wissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Feldstr. 11a, A-6020 Innsbruck, [email protected]

Benjamin WiesmairTiroler Landesmuseen Betriebgsges.m.b.H., Natur-wissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Feldstr. 11a, A-6020 Innsbruck, [email protected]

Several species of Ancylis related to A. unguicella (Linnaeus) and A. geminana (Donovan) have been presumed by previous authors to be Holarctic. However,

difficulty in identifying morphological characters to define and separate these taxa has brought into ques-tion their true distribution and led to inconsistencies in their taxonomic treatment in Europe and North America. Here we discuss using a combination of DNA barcode sequence data and morphology to resolve these taxonomic differences, determine the actual geo-graphic ranges of these taxa, and describe several new species. In the A. unguicella group, only A. unguicella and A. uncella (Denis & Schiffermüller) are Holarctic in distribution. In the A. geminana group, none of the taxa are Holarctic in their distribution. Resulting taxonomic changes include two new synonymies, two species raised from synonymy, and the description of three new species.

Encounters with the moths of British Columbia

David G. HoldenCanadian Food Inspection Agency, 400 - 4321 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5C 6S7, [email protected]

British Columbia is the 5th largest Province in Canada and consists of 75% mountainous terrain, with most of it extremely difficult to access and sample. Sitting mostly west of the Rocky Mountain range, the moth fauna is fairly isolated from eastern species and forms a distinct western assemblage of moths. The latest calculations of the currently-known moth fauna include 2,768 con-firmed species. In this talk I will briefly discuss my path to becoming a lepidopterist and my current interests, backyard moth monitoring, an overview of my research collection, and some of my collecting localities in BC (some of which you may want to visit).







Sorting the mess of micros: how DNA barcodes can help with specimen identification

Mari KekkonenCentre for Biodiversity Genomics, Biodiversity Insti-tute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G [email protected]

It is not easy to be a microlepidopterist. Specimens are small, wing patterns can be totally absent, the diversity of known species is high and the number of unde-scribed species is probably even higher. You sit by your desk, staring at tens of greyish-brownish mini-moths and wondering how you can ever sort out this mess. Do not despair! In addition to field guides, books, articles, keys, informative web sites and taxonomic experts (and especially if none of these is available), there is also a genetic alternative – DNA barcoding.

The quality of DNA barcode-based identifica-tion increases with the expanding reference library. Currently, there are ca. 1.2 M lepidopteran records of specimens collected from 158 countries and over 100 K public BINs (i.e., putative species delineated by the Barcode Index Number system) on the BOLD database, creating numerous opportunities to successfully identify challenging micros to species, genus or family. However, the efficient use of DNA barcodes for iden-tification requires knowledge of the various tools on BOLD. In my talk, I will compare the three main tools, BINs, Identification Engine and neighbour-joining (NJ) trees (i.e., Taxon ID Trees on BOLD), and provide experience-based tips on how to get the most out of them. In addition, I will present some examples from the microlepidopteran realm.

The identity of the South American potato tuber moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Vazrick NazariCanadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A [email protected]

The South American potato tuber moth is a widespread pest of potatoes and tomatoes in the southern United States to South America and the Australian regions, yet its true identity remains unverified. The type specimens of Trichot-aphe tangolias Gyen, 1913, reared by C. Silva Figueroa on potatoes from Bucalemu, Chile, are lost. The identity of this species was thus established by Hodges & Becker in 1990 based on a wing-prep of a specimen sent to August Busck by Silva Figueroa in 1916. Based on this slide (also now lost) the latter authors synonymized several South American and Australian species (plaesiosema Turner, melanoplintha Meyrick, tuberosella Busck) with Chilean tangolias and moved this taxon under Symmetrischema. The Czech Entomologist Dalibor Povolný had previously (1977) synonymized the Peruvian aquilina Meyrick with Australian plaesiosema; in 1990, he described S. costari-canum from Costa Rica, a taxon that remained unstudied until recently. Examination of the type specimens of all of these taxa and DNA barcoding of many specimens across its current range reveals that our current understanding of the taxonomy of this species-group is in dire need of a thorough revision.





New North American check list for Pyraloidea

Brian G. Scholtens*Biology Department, College of Charleston, Charles-ton, South Carolina 29424, [email protected]

M. Alma SolisSystematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 168, Washington, DC 20013-7012, [email protected]

We updated the North American check list of Pyraloidea by compiling information from publications since 1983 and incorporating recent records from Lep Soc Season Summaries and collectors. In total, we list 1542 species, including 861 Crambidae and 681 Pyralidae, for about a 10% increase in total numbers since 1983. Included are many higher level changes at the family and subfamily level. We described no new taxa, but created several new combinations and synonyms using transfers as indicated from recent publications and examination of types. We also exclude 13 previously listed species. All additions, deletions and changes are documented in an extensive notes section.

Collecting microlepidoptera in Baja Cali-fornia, Mexico

Stephanie ShankOrma J. Smith Museum of Natural History, The College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho 83605, [email protected]

For many years scientists have studied the biodiversity, ecology, geology and history of Baja California. Much has been published in scientific and popular literature regarding the unique ecological and plant communi-ties in Baja California. More recently, several insect families have been studied, resulting in publications

on Baja Butterflies, ant communities, and new species of beetles. Very little has been recorded or published about the Heterocera of Baja California. A recent trip, during which three sites were sampled in the Valle de los Cirios, revealed many species of moths. Not surprisingly, these moths offer more complete range information for moths that occur in the southwest desert of the United States. This presentation focuses on the locali-ties, habitat and species of micromoths collected at the three sites. Voucher collections are housed at CIDA and CICESE (The Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada).

ABSTRACTS—WORKSHOP

Round-table discussion: Making and customizing field equipment for microleps and microlep rearing techniques

David Bettman (facilitator)Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, [email protected]

Most microlep workers wind up developing their own gear (or their own customizations of standard equip-ment) to take into the field, in addition to their own procedures for rearing out micros. These innovations are usually not widely known and therefore many wheels wind up being reinvented. This round-table discussion will focus on sharing techniques for making effective killing jars, making light traps and phero-mone traps, using non-standard gear such as malaise traps, etc. as well as techniques for rearing leaf miners and other micros. Attendees are encouraged to bring their gear, designs, and modifications to show and demonstrate.







Spreading techniques for microlepidoptera

Chris Grinter*Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 S Oak Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820-0904, [email protected]

Todd Gilligan*Identification Technology Program, USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T, 2301 Research Blvd., Suite 108, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, [email protected]

Anyone who has worked with microlepidoptera is acutely aware that standard spreading techniques for larger moths tend to give poor results when used on micros. This workshop will illustrate two spread-ing techniques particularly suited to the challenges micromoths pose. Chris Grinter will demonstrate a highly efficient method for mounting micros upside-down on foam; Todd Gilligan will demonstrate the use of miniature spreading boards and his “point-set” technique.

Whole-body dissection of microlepidoptera

Sangmi LeeHasbrouck Insect Collection, School of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 874501, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501, [email protected]

A whole-body mount preparation, in which scales are removed and body parts are mounted on slides, is one method to facilitate comparative morphological studies, especially on microlepidoptera. The procedures of the method will be given, and examples of characters of the de-scaled body will be given for selected species of some microlepidopteran families.





First North AmericanMicroepidopterists’ Meeting

July 5, 2016Denver Museum of Nature & Science

David J. Bettman (Ed.)

2001 Colorado Boulevard Denver, CO 80205

Frank Krell, PhD, Editor and Production



DEN

VER M

USEU

M O

F NA

TURE &

SCIEN

CE REPO

RTS • NU

MBER 4

• JULY 5

, 20

16

Cover photo: Cameraria ohridella (Gracillariidae)

reared from leaf mine on Aesculus hippocastanum L.

(horse-chestnut), Austria, March 1992.

Photo: Todd Gilligan.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (ISSN

2374-7730 [print], ISSN 2374-7749 [online]) is an open-

access, non peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing

papers about DMNS research, collections, or other

Museum related topics, generally authored or co-authored

by Museum staff or associates. Peer review will only be

arranged on request of the authors.

The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/Science/

Museum-Publications free of charge. Paper copies are

exchanged via the DMNS Library exchange program

([email protected]) or are available for purchase

from our print-on-demand publisher Lulu (www.lulu.com).

DMNS owns the copyright of the works published in the

Reports, which are published under the Creative Commons

Attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial use of

published material contact the Alfred M. Bailey Library &

Archives at [email protected].


(Print) ISSN 2374-7730


(Online) ISSN 2374-7749




Acanthopteroctetes aurulenta male

(Acanthopteroctetidae) Gilpin Co., Colorado,

22.vii.2014, leg. Barbara Bartell.


Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata female

(Acanthopteroctetidae), Gilpin Co., Colorado,

09–10.vi.2015, leg. Barbara Bartell.


denver museum of nature & science reports denver … · 2019-08-26 · jurate de prins royal...

Documents