Author
|
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 8/17/2004 Publication Date: 8/17/2004 Citation: Solis, M.A. 2004. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis of musotiminae (Lepidoptera, Crambidae) and the implications on biological control of weedy ferns. Meeting Abstract. 08/17/2004. 1:1 Interpretive Summary: N/A Technical Abstract: The crambid Musotiminae has 24 genera recognized from around the world, most of which are obviously not monophyletic, and many species are undescribed. The following aspects of musotimine systematics are addressed, the relationships of this subfamily to other crambid subfamilies, the synapomorphies of Musotiminae, and the usefulness of new adult morphological characters. We show that several 'clades' within the subfamily can be defined based on some putative synapomorphies, but their internal relationships are blurred because information of immature stages is still scarce. Fern-feeding behavior of the musotimines from different parts of the world has been discovered in the past two years, and thus these moths may have potential for controlling the weedy ferns. The known host fern families were mapped on a preliminary genus-level phylogeny of Musotiminae and found no evidence of co-phylogenesis between the fern families and mothe genera, although there is a tendency for closely related species and genera to utilize the same fern family. Some fern families such as Schizaeaceae have been colonized by unrelated lineages of musotimines. We expect that more exploration for biological control agents will result in an improved picture of the fern-musotimine relationships. |
