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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #369107
Research Project: Systematics of Moths Significant to Biodiversity, Quarantine, and Control, with a Focus on Invasive Species

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Two new species in the genus Frumenta Busck 1939 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae: Gnorimoschemini) with discovery of a culcitula in the male

Author
item MCCARTY, MEGAN - Smithsonian Institute
item ADAMSKI, D. - Retired ARS Employee
item Metz, Mark
item LANDRY, J. - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2019
Publication Date: 5/11/2020
Citation: Mccarty, M.E., Adamski, D., Metz, M., Landry, J.F. 2020. Two new species in the genus Frumenta Busck 1939 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae: Gnorimoschemini) with discovery of a culcitula in the male. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 122(2):415-441.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.122.2.415

Interpretive Summary: Leaf-tier moths include a large assemblage of species that feed on plants in the nightshade family like tomato and potato. One subgroup of these species is in a genus named Frumenta, and they feed on nightshade plants that are native to North America, but can become noxious weeds in other parts of the World. Because they have the potential for biological control of these weeds, it is important to verify the diversity of Frumenta moth species in their native region. This research reports the discovery of two new species of these weed feeding moths and provides the information necessary to identify all species in the group. This information will be helpful to scientists working on biological control of these noxious nightshade weeds and scientist working on the larger group of leaf-tier moths feeding on nightshades.

Technical Abstract: Analysis of morphology and sequences of the 658bp barcoding region of COI support four distinct species in the genus Frumenta Busck, 1939, two of which are new: Frumenta davidi McCarty new species and Frumenta dianeae McCarty new species. Frumenta solanophaga Adamski and Brown, 2002, is a junior synonym of F. nephelomicta (Meyrick, 1930). Frumenta nundinella (Zeller, 1873) and F. nephelomicta are redescribed. Sequence data for F. dianeae were unavailable, but the morphology of this species is distinct. We found three morphological features that may define Frumenta and character support for the placement of Frumenta within Gnorimoschemini Povolný, 1964, including a culcitula revealed by scanning electron micrographs. Images of adult habitus and male and female genitalia are provided as well as a map showing species distributions and a key to the species.