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Title: Pyraloidea and their known hosts (Lepidoptera: Insecta) from Plummers Island

Author
item Solis, M Alma

Submitted to: Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2006
Publication Date: 5/15/2008
Citation: Solis, M.A. 2008. Pyraloidea and their known hosts (Lepidoptera: Insecta) from Plummers Island. Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington. 15(1):88-106.

Interpretive Summary: Snout moth caterpillars are agricultural pests that cause billions of dollars of damage annually to crops and stored products, but many are also beneficial components of forest ecosystems including aquatic habitats. This paper documents the species of snout moths for Plummers Island, Maryland, within the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historic Park along the Potomac River. This paper will establish an important base-line inventory that will enable National Park Service staff to make informed descisions on land and resource management within the park. This paper will be useful to systematists, ecologists, and biodiversity researchers.

Technical Abstract: From 1902–2005 75 species of Crambidae and 48 species of Pyralidae have been recorded from Plummers Island, Montgomery County, Maryland. A checklist and photographs of the Pyralidae and Crambidae are provided. The Pyraloidea species of Plummers Island have wide distributions in eastern United States and occur as far west as Texas. Hosts, if recorded in the literature, are given, but 36% of the hosts are unknown. The majority of Pyraloidea species feed on vascular plants, but hosts are very diverse including algae and scale insects.