Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332019
Title: A new phycitine moth (Vorapourouma basseti, Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Panama feeding on Pourouma Aubl. (Urticaceae)

Author
item Solis, M Alma
item NEUNZIG, HERBERT - University Of North Carolina

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/26/2017
Publication Date: 8/21/2017
Citation: Solis, M.A., Neunzig, H.H. 2017. A new phycitine moth (Vorapourouma basseti, Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Panama feeding on Pourouma Aubl. (Urticaceae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 119(3):464-470.

Interpretive Summary: Phycitine moth larvae are major stored product pests and components of forest decomposition. A phycitine moth genus and species new to science is described. It was collected at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on the Forest Sherman Canopy Crane in Panama feeding on a species of old-growth trees that is a major component of lowland tropical forests. We provide illustrations of the adult and genitalia so that they can be identified. This information will be used by biologists and ecologists who study arthropod faunas and their impact on tropical forests.

Technical Abstract: A study of the insects associated with the tree Pourouma bicolor Martius (Cecropiaceae) in Panama, resulted in the discovery of a new phycitine moth genus and species, Vorapourouma basseti (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). The immatures were collected by beating vegetation using the Fort Sherman Canopy Crane in Panama and reared in the laboratory. This is the first time a pyraloid has been recorded to feed on this plant genus.