Family Crambidae Research Articles

A new species of the genus Suhela (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Spilomelinae) from the Andaman Islands, India

A new species, Suhela cuneus Rao, Sivaperuman & Mally sp. nov., belonging to the family Crambidae is described from the Indian Andaman Islands. The generic concept of Suhela is revised to include the new species. A differential diagnosis as well as images of adult habitus and both male and female genitalia are provided.

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Chilo infuscatellus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), and Related Phylogenetic Analysis.

The Chilo infuscatellus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a significant pest of sugarcane in China. The genome-level characteristics of this pest are important genetic resources for identification, phylogenetic analysis, and even management. In the present study, the complete mitogenome of C. infuscatellus was sequenced and characterized. The assembled mitochondrial genome is 15,252bp in length and includes 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and an A + T-rich region. Except for the CGA codon for the cox1 gene, the PCGs are initiated with ATN codons (ATG, ATT, and ATA). These PCGs are terminated with TAA or an incomplete termination codon of a single T. Except for the loss of the "DHU" arm for trnS1, the tRNA genes were folded into the typical cloverleaf structure. The A + T-rich region has a high AT content of 96.19% and contains the motifs "ATAGA" and "ATTTA", as well as a 19bp poly-T stretch and microsatellite regions. The C. infuscatellus mitogenome exhibits a conserved gene order among lepidopteran insects, with a rearrangement of the trnM gene compared to the ancestral insect gene order. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 13 PCGs using Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods confirmed the monophyly of Pyralidae and Crambidae within Pyraloidea. The relationships between subfamilies in Pyralidae can be described as (Galleriinae + (Phycitinae + (Pyralinae + Epipaschiinae))). The "PS clade" and "non-PS clade" were formed within the family Crambidae. These findings provide valuable genetic resources for the identification, phylogenetic analysis, and management of sugarcane borers, contributing significantly to our understanding of the phylogeny of Pyraloidea insects and their evolution.

Checklist of the Moth (Lepidopteran) Fauna of District Buner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

An annotated checklist of the Moth (Lepidopteran) fauna of District Buner, KP, Pakistan were presented. In the current study 563 specimens of Moth were collected. Throughout entomological investigation a total of 28 species belonging to 25 genera names asCyana hemata (Walker, 1854), Aloa lactinea (Cramer, 1777), Creatonotos transiens (Walker, 1855), Olene mendosa (Hubner, 1823), Cyana puella (Drury, 1773), Syntomoides imaon (Cramer, 1779),Spilosoma obliqua (Walker, 1855), Stigmatophora palmata (Moore, 1878),Marumba sperchius (Menetries, 1857), Psilogramma increta (Walker1865), Leucophlebia lineata (Westwood, 1847), Polyptychus dentatus (Cramer, 1777), Theretra alecto (Linnaeus, 1758),Theretra oldenlandiae (Fabricius, 1775), Biston suppressaria (Guenée, 1858), Declana atronivea (Walker, 1865), Dysgonia torrida (Guenee, 1852), Polytela gloriosae (Fabricius, 1781), Chasmina candida (Walker, 1865),Anua tirhaca (Cramer, 1777), Aegocera venulia (Cramer, 1777), Anua coronata (Fabricius, 1976), Bradina diagonalis (Guenee, 1852), Archernis capitalis (Fabricius, 1794), Dinara combusta (Walker, 1855), Phalera raya (Moore, 1849), Euthrix potatoria (Linnaeus, 1758) and Ocinara varians (Walker, 1855) were reported. The species recorded under 8 families. i.e.Family Erebidae, Family Sphingidae, Family Geometridae, Family Noctuidae, family Crambidae, Family Notodontidae, Family Lasiocampidae and Family Bombycidae. Among them the most abundant family was Family Erebidae.

Preliminary studies of macro-moths diversity (Lepidoptera) in chirpine forests of Himachal Pradesh

The present biodiversity study was conducted in Himachal Pradesh, India to find the status of moth diversity in Chirpine forests. During the study, about 526 specimens of moths were collected with the help of light trap from different selected sites of Chirpine forests. All the specimens were sorted into 80 species of moths belonging to 71 genera and 11 families. Out of which 06 species from family Crambidae, 03 from family Drepanidae, 29 from family Erebidae, 01 species from family Euteliidae, 14 from Geometridae, 02 species from family Lasciocampidae, 18 species from family Noctuidae, 02 species from family Nolidae, 01 species of family Notodontidae, 03 species from family Sphingidae and 01 species from family Uraniidae were recorded. This is the first record of moth diversity study in the Chirpine forest of Himachal Pradesh.

A step forward in the genome characterization of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis: karyotype analysis, sex chromosome system and repetitive DNAs through a cytogenomic approach.

Moths of the family Crambidae include a number of pests that cause economic losses to agricultural crops. Despite their economic importance, little is known about their genome architecture and chromosome evolution. Here, we characterized the chromosomes and repetitive DNA of the sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis using a combination of low-pass genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and cytogenetic methods, focusing on the sex chromosomes. Diploid chromosome numbers differed between the sexes, i.e., 2n = 33 in females and 2n = 34 in males. This difference was caused by the occurrence of a WZ1Z2 trivalent in female meiosis, indicating a multiple sex-chromosome system WZ1Z2/Z1Z1Z2Z2. A strong interstitial telomeric signal was observed on the W chromosome, indicating a fusion of the ancestral W chromosome with an autosome. Among repetitive DNAs, transposable elements (TEs) accounted for 39.18% (males) to 41.35% (females), while satDNAs accounted for only 0.214% (males) and 0.215% (females) of the genome. FISH mapping revealed different chromosomal organization of satDNAs, such as single localized clusters, spread repeats, and non-clustered repeats. Two TEs mapped by FISH were scattered. Although we found a slight enrichment of some satDNAs in the female genome, they were not differentially enriched on the W chromosome. However, we found enriched FISH signals for TEs on the W chromosome, suggesting their involvement in W chromosome degeneration and differentiation. These data shed light on karyotype and repetitive DNA dynamics due to multiple chromosome fusions in D. saccharalis, contribute to the understanding of genome structure in Lepidoptera and are important for future genomic studies.

Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of Cnaphalocrocis patnalis (Bradley 1981) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Cnaphalocrocis patnalis (Bradley 1981) is a major pest that threatens the safety of rice production in the world. In the present study, we determined the complete mitogenome of C. patnalis. This mitogenome was 15,305 bp in length (GenBank accession No. OL449028), which contained two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNAs, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) and one non-coding AT-rich region with a length of 344 bp. All the 22 tRNA genes displayed a typical clover-leaf structure, except for trnS1. Twelve PCGs were initiated by ATN codons, and COX1 started with TTG. All the PCGs used the typical stop codon ‘TAA’ and ‘TAG.’ Phylogenetic tree demonstrated that C. patnalis belongs to the family Crambidae.

First Indian DNA barcode record for the moth species Pygospila tyres (Cramer, 1780) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae: Spilomelinae) distributed in Asia and Australia

The species Pygospila tyres was described from the Coromandel region of India about 240 years ago, accommodated in the family Crambidae having immense importance. The species is morphologically cryptic and is known to have 10 extant species under the genus. Earlier mt DNA Barcodes for the species were available from Pakistan, Korea, and Australia, here we report the first barcode of the species from the country of its type locality. Morphological details for the collections with the male and female genitalia are provided for the taxonomic identification. Identities of the mt COI DNA sequences for the genus in the GenBank are discussed.

New records of pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae) from India

Four species of the family Crambidae (superfamily Pyraloidea) are reported for the first time from India, based on the material collected from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2018–2020, namely Glyphodes cosmarcha Meyrick, 1887, Palpita cirralis (Swinhoe, 1897), Pachynoa xanthochyta (Turner, 1933) and Pagyda arbiter (Butler, 1879). The diagnoses and the distributional data on these species are provided; the male and female genital structures are illustrated. The female of G. cosmarcha and the male and female genitalia of P. cirralis are described for the first time.

Complete mitochondrial genomes of Conogethes punctiferalis and C. pinicolalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae): Genomic comparison and phylogenetic inference in Pyraloidea

• We sequenced complete mitogenomes of Conogethes pinicolalis and C. punctiferalis . • We compared to each other and to 54 available mitogenomes of Pyraloidea. • The two congeneric species showed substantial sequence divergence (mean 5.92%). • Phylogenetic tree provided strong supports for lower groups within Pyraloidea. Conogethes punctiferalis Guenée, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is a serious polyphagous pest that attacks more than one hundred species of plants. Previously, C. punctiferalis was determined to be composed of two ecotypes; later, Conogethes pinicolalis , was described as a separate species. Due to the prolonged negligence of C. pinicolalis as an independent species, the genetic perspective of the two species is limited. Thus, in this study, 15,332 and 15,336 bp-long complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the two species were sequenced and compared to each other and to 54 available mitogenomes of Pyraloidea. The comparison of each protein-coding gene (PCG) and rRNA gene of the two congeneric species showed substantial sequence divergence, ranging from 3.13% ( ATP8 ) to 8.3% ( COIII ), with an average of 5.92%. Phylogenetic analyses using concatenated sequences of 13 PCGs and 2 rRNAs (12,458 bp including gaps), both by maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods, consistently supported the monophyly of each family (Crambidae and Pyralidae) and subfamily, generally with the highest nodal supports. The subfamilial relationships of ((((Acentropinae + Schoenobiinae) + (Scopariinae + Crambinae)) + Evergestinae) + (Spilomelinae + Pyraustinae)) in Crambidae and the subfamilial relationships of ((((Pyralinae + Epipaschiinae) + Phycitinae) + Galleriilinae)) in Pyralidae were obtained in both analyses. However, nodal supports were substantially low in this study, mainly due to limited taxa.

Incidence of two caterpillar species (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and injuries caused by them in sweet basil grown in Seropédica County, RJ

Ocimum basilicum L. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most popular herbs in the world, given its aromatic, medicinal and insecticidal properties. Its leaves are rich in essential oils, as well as the plant part with the highest economic value in this species. The aims of the current study are to identify the causative agent of injuries observed in sweet basil plants grown in Seropédica County, RJ (Brazil), as well as to feature both their feeding behavior and injuries caused by them. The herein investigated injuries were caused in sweet basil stems and leaves by caterpillars, which were collected with the leaves and grown in laboratory until they reached the adult stage. Two lepidopteran species belonging to family Crambidae were identified, namely: Hyalorista opalizalis (Guenée, 1854) and Pyrausta phoenicealis (Hübner, 1818); approximately 73% of adult individuals obtained in laboratory belonged to the first species. Caterpillars belonging to both species have caused similar injuries to O. basilicum plants. Injuries were featured by the sectioning of stems whose leaves were bundled with silk threads and formed a shelter, where caterpillars ate the leaf limb in. The current study also recorded O. basilicum plants used as hosts by P. phoenicealis insects, for the first time.

Moth (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) diversity of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India: a preliminary study

A preliminary checklist has been compiled to study the moth diversity of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, an eastern state of India. The present study has recorded a total of 154 species belonging to 129 genera and 19 families. The highest diversity of moths was recorded in the family Crambidae (48 species, 38 genera), followed by the families Erebidae (42 species, 37 genera), Geometridae (15 species, 12 genera), Noctuidae (13 species, 11 genera) and others. The study was conducted over a period of 18 months from May 2019 to October 2020. Here we present an illustrated checklist of 154 moth species from Bhubaneswar which improves our insight into the lesser-known lepidopterans from the state of Odisha. This shall further help us strengthen our knowledge about the importance of moths in our environment and contribute towards its conservation at large.

Moth diversity, species composition, and distributional pattern in Aravalli Hill Range of Rajasthan, India.

Moths are phytophagous, cosmopolitan, agricultural pests, night pollinators, chiefly nocturnal and potential bio-indicators. The current study will be the first report on species diversity, species composition, abundance, and distributional pattern of moth fauna in Aravalli Hill Range Rajasthan. During the survey period of 2018–2019, 758 specimens of moths were collected pertaining to 34 species, 26 genera belonging to 05 families, and 13 subfamilies from three different sites of Aravalli Hill Range. Based on the number of genera, family Sphingidae was most dominant with 9 genera, and family Crambidae was least dominant with 2 genera. Based on the number of species, the family Sphingidae was the most dominant, representing 13 species, followed by Erebidae representing 11 species, Saturniidae and Noctuidae with 4 species each, the least dominant was Crambidae with 2 species. The diversity indices for moths have been calculated for the first time from the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan. Across the survey, Simpson’s Diversity Index (D′), Shannon Diversity Index (H′), Dominance & Evenness was calculated as 0.95, 3.3, 0.04, and 0.8, respectively, which reflects that moth fauna is diverse in the surveyed areas.

Nocturnal insect pollinator diversity and species richness in Ridge gourd, Luffa acutangula

Pollinators are rewarding for many wild and agricultural crop plants. The experiments were conducted in the agricultural field of Karad tehsil, Maharashtra, India. The present study concentrated on the diversity and species richness of nocturnal insect pollinators on Ridge gourd Luffa acutangula belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. The Ridge gourd plant is monoecious with a bunch of male flowers and solitary female flower. Anthesis happened in late evening hours (17.00-19.00) and flowers remained for 13 to 14 hours. A total of 830 insect pollinators were sampled from June 2020 to November 2020. Altogether 17 species of insect pollinators belonging to 7 families under 6 orders were recorded. Among the total number of species, the Lepidoptera was the dominant order comprising 11 species belonging to the single family Crambidae followed by Blattodea comprising 2 species belonging to 2 families Ectobiidae and Blattidae. Hymenoptera comprised 1 species belonging to family Formicidae, followed by order Orthoptera comprising 1 species belonging to family Gryllidae, order Diptera comprising 1 species belonging to the family Culicidae, followed by the order Coleoptera comprising 1 species belonging to the family Chrysomelidae. The Diaphnia hyalinata belonging to family Crambidae of the order Lepidoptera was the most dominant species and was followed by Chabula acamasalis. The nocturnal species imparted pollination services to agricultural crops. The study also observed fundamental mechanisms of plant and nocturnal insect pollinator interaction as well as floral scent and visual signals. The study can be baseline data for conserving and managing the best pollinators for increasing the yield of Ridge gourd.

Contribution to the knowledge of the Croatian Pyraloidea fauna. Species reported from Biokovo Natural Park (Insecta: Lepidoptera)

Little is known on the occurrence of Pyraloidea species from Croatian mountains and there is no species list from Mountain of Biokovo. We provide new data on Pyraloidea species recorded from Biokovo Natural Park. The species list contains information on date and locality of species recorded during field surveys conducted by the first author between 2016 and 2019 and the second author between 1985 and 2018. During these field surveys, 71 Pyraloidea species were recorded. The list was complemented with six species known only from literature data. Altogether we report 77 Pyraloidea species, 54 belonging to the family Crambidae and 23 belonging to the family Pyralidae. This represents about 20,5% of the overall Croatian Pyraloidea fauna. Some interesting species that have been previously known only from historic literature are reported from Biokovo Mountain, for example, Catoptria acutangulella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1847), a montane specie that has not been recorded in Croatia since 1896 and Biokovo Mountain since 1850 (the results have been published elsewhere). The species Mecyna trinalis ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) has been recorded for the first time in Dalmatia. The species Udea numeralis (Hübner, [1796]), Evergestis limbata (Linnaeus, 1767) and Hypsopygia fulvocilialis (Duponchel, 1834) have been reported for the first time from Dalmatia in almost 150 years and the species Selagia spadicella (Hübner, [1796]), Agriphila inquinatella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) and Agriphila straminella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) have been reported for the first time in almost 100 years. Also, 15 species have been reported for the first time from Dalmatia in decades, like Dolicharthria bruguieralis (Duponchel, 1833), a species that has not been reported in almost 85 years.This paper deepens the knowledge on the distribution of Pyraloidea species occurring in Biokovo Natural Park and reconfirms the occurrence of many species that have not been reported from Croatia in decades.

Data on pyraloid moth specimens (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) held in the collections of CNHM in Zagreb, Croatia.

Natural history museum collections can be a helpful tool in documenting changes in biodiversity throughout decades or even centuries. This article uncovers information on the content of three different museum collections, collected over 100 years. It deepens the knowledge on the distribution of pyraloid moth species occurring predominantly in the Continental parts of Croatia, but also in other areas of this country. The article presents the first published listing of pyraloid moth species held in three museum collections of the Croatian Natural History Museum in Zagreb. The list contains 148 taxa in total, 61 from the Igalffy collection, 96 from the Koča collection, and 96 from the Kučinić collection. Altogether, 96 species from the family Crambidae and 52 species from the family Pyralidae are listed.

Identifikasi Serangga Hama Selada Hidroponik sebagai Langkah Awal Penyediaan Sayur Sehat

Hydroponic agriculture in urban areas is one of urban farming, an agricultural system without using soil media that uses narrow land in urban areas and is free from the use of synthetic pesticides. This purposes of this study were to identify the species, analyze the diversity, and abundance of insects that attack lettuce on hydroponic land. The samples were collected by using the yellow pan trap, netting, and hand picking methods. Identification of insects based on morphological characteristics. Data were analyzed by the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H) and abundance index (Di). The results showed that there were 18 species of insects belongs to 13 families that attacked hydroponic lettuce, namely the family Acrididae, Agromyzidae, Aleyrodidae, Calliphoridae, Coccinellidae, Crambidae, Dolichopodidae, Hesperiidae, Noctuidae, Pieridae, Psilidae, Stratiomyidae, and Syrphidae. The diversity of the insects was in the category medium with a diversity index value of 2,707 and the most abundant species found was Chrysodeixis chalcites 11,70%, Spodoptera litura 10,64%, and Pieris rapae 9,57%.

Egg Morphology and Chorion Fine Structure of Lepidopteran Pest Species <i>Nausinoe geometralis</i> (Guenée) (Crambidae: Spilomelinae)

The eggs of a species of subfamily Spilomelinae i.e., Nausinoe geometralis (Guenée) belonging to family Crambidae, commonly known as jasmine leaf webworm were examined through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and studied their surface ornamentation displayed on the egg chorion to raise a taxonomic key for more accurate identification. Surface texture of the chorion considered in combination with overall shape was enough to distinguish all the species examined. The surface textures of egg shells can be used to describe, classify and identification of the species from taxonomic view point. The egg surface have a gap like structure denoted as micropyle which further contains rosettes, cross ribs and aeropyles which differs in higher taxonomic groups. In the species i.e., Nausinoe geometralis (Guenée), the egg chorion sculpture appeared as irregular ridges join the rosettes which surrounds the micropyle.

Biodiversity and Systematic Checklist of Moth Caterpillars, Belonging to Family Crambidae, Erebidae and Tortricidae, Affecting Host Crops and Plant Species in Jammu & Kashmir State (India)

Biodiversity and Systematic Checklist of Moth Caterpillars, Belonging to Family Crambidae, Erebidae and Tortricidae, Affecting Host Crops and Plant Species in Jammu & Kashmir State (India)

Sesterterpenoid and Steroid Metabolites from a Deep-Water Alaska Sponge Inhibit Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Colon Cancer Cells.

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is known to play critical roles in a wide range of cellular processes: cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and embryonic development. Importantly, dysregulation of this pathway is tightly associated with pathogenesis in most human cancers. Therefore, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway has emerged as a promising target in anticancer drug screening programs. In the present study, we have isolated three previously unreported metabolites from an undescribed sponge, a species of Monanchora (Order Poecilosclerida, Family Crambidae), closely related to the northeastern Pacific species Monanchora pulchra, collected from deep waters off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Through an assortment of NMR, MS, ECD, computational chemical shifts calculation, and DP4, chemical structures of these metabolites have been characterized as spirocyclic ring-containing sesterterpenoid (1) and cholestane-type steroidal analogues (2 and 3). These compounds exhibited the inhibition of β-catenin response transcription (CRT) through the promotion of β-catenin degradation, which was in part implicated in the antiproliferative activity against two CRT-positive colon cancer cell lines.

The Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) fauna of the woody savannah belt in Mali, West Africa.

Seventy-nine taxa of Pyraloidea were collected in 2014 with light traps in the woody savannah zone south of Bamako, Mali. Three taxa out of 79 were identified to genus level only. 78 of the 79 species are new records for Mali, 17 are new for West Africa. Most species (54) belong to the subfamily Spilomelinae (family Crambidae). The majority of observed species have wide distribution areas. The only regional endemic is Hypsopygia bamakoensis (Leraut, 2006). Concerning the biogeographical categories most of the species (34) are Afrotropical, seven species cosmopolitan, and the remaining species occur in the Palaearctics with a preference to the Palaeotropics. The most common species, Patania balteata (Fabricius, 1798) comprised 40.0% of all specimens collected. It is known to be a pest of the mango tree, which is common in the light-trapping area.