Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #389163
Research Project: Systematics of Hyper-Diverse Moth Superfamilies, with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: The South American Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904) (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae), illuminated after more than a century of anonymity

Author
item VARGAS, H. - University Of Chile
item Solis, M Alma
item VARGAS-ORTIZ, M. - University Of Concepcion

Submitted to: ZooKeys
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/14/2022
Publication Date: 2/7/2022
Citation: Vargas, H., Solis, M.A., Vargas-Ortiz, M. 2022. The South American Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904) (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae), illuminated after more than a century of anonymity. ZooKeys. 1085:129-143. https://doi.org/10.3897/Zookeys.1085.76868.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/Zookeys.1085.76868

Interpretive Summary: Inchworms include pests such as cankerworms, spanworms, and the winter moth. An inchworm species was recently rediscovered in Chile after over 100 years. This study expands its distribution from Peru to Chile and provides its first host plant record in the bean family. The male and female genitalia are described and illustrated for the first time. This information will be important to scientists, action agency identifiers, and regulatory personnel at U.S. ports.

Technical Abstract: Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904) (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) is reported in Chile for the first time in more than 100 years. It was described from the western slopes of the Andes of southern Peru. It was rediscovered recently in Chile after larvae were collected and reared on the shrub Senna birostris var. arequipensis (Meyen ex Vogel) H.S. Irwin & Barneby (Fabaceae). This discovery expands its distribution and provides its first host plant record. The genitalia of R. mochica are described and illustrated for the first time and compared to R. affirmata (Guenée, [1858]). A maximum likelihood analysis based on mitochondrial DNA sequences clustered R. mochica as sister to R. affirmata with 3.6–3.8% divergence (K2P). A lectotype is designated for Calocalpe mochica Dognin, 1904.