Changes in the noctuid moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae, Noctuidae) of the Karkonosze National Park (SW Poland) at the turn of the 20th century

Faunistic analysis of records of noctuid moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae, Noctuidae) from the Karkonosze National Park (Karkonosze Mts., southern Poland) obtained at the turn of the 19th century, in the late 20th century and the last two years has revealed changes in this assemblage: 18 species were never recorded before in this national park, and 9 of them were new to the Polish Karkonosze Mts. as a whole. A further 11 species were found that had been recorded at the turn of the 19th century but not confirmed in the late 20th century.

The noctuid moth Xylomoia graminea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) new to the Romanian fauna

In this paper, new data concerning the occurrence and distribution of Xylomoia graminea (Graeser, 1889) in Romania are given. Pictures of specimen and male genitalia are provided.

Neuronal architecture of the second-order CO2 pathway in the brain of a noctuid moth

Many insects possess the ability to detect fine fluctuations in the environmental CO2 concentration. In herbivorous species, plant-emitted CO2, in combination with other sensory cues, affect many behaviors including foraging and oviposition. In contrast to the comprehensive knowledge obtained on the insect olfactory pathway in recent years, we still know little about the central CO2 system. By utilizing intracellular labeling and mass staining, we report the neuroanatomy of projection neurons connected with the CO2 sensitive antennal-lobe glomerulus, the labial pit organ glomerulus (LPOG), in the noctuid moth, Helicoverpa armigera. We identified 15 individual LPOG projection neurons passing along different tracts. Most of these uniglomerular neurons terminated in the lateral horn, a previously well-described target area of plant-odor projection neurons originating from the numerous ordinary antennal-lobe glomeruli. The other higher-order processing area for odor information, the calyces, on the other hand, was weakly innervated by the LPOG neurons. The overlapping LPOG terminals in the lateral horn, which is considered important for innate behavior in insects, suggests the biological importance of integrating the CO2 input with plant odor information while the weak innervation of the calyces indicates the insignificance of this ubiquitous cue for learning mechanisms.

Application of biological agents to protect cucumber plants against multiple pests in greenhouses in Northwest Russia

Dynamics of the main pests of cucumber over a five-year period were analysed. The impact of meteorological conditions on the pest dynamics was observed when growing photo culture cucumbers in a greenhouse all year round. The possibility of successful and efficient use of cotton aphid, spider mite, tobacco thrips, greenhouse whitefly and noctuid moth entomophagous was demonstrated. Application rates for several entomophagous were proposed for prevention and protection of cucumber plants against the above-mentioned pests.

First record of Spodoptera littoralis in Hungary (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Three larvae of the noctuid moth Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval, 1833) have been found in Kistarcsa, Central Hungary in August, 2020. One caterpillar developed to adult stage, it is deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. This is the first record of this Afrotropical and subtropical species in Hungary. With 4 figures.

Comments on the occurrence and biology of Xylomoia graminea (Graeser, 1889) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from south-eastern Poland

The aim of the study was to recognize the current distribution and biology of the noctuid moth – Xylomoia graminea (Graeser, 1889) which was spreading in the Podkarpacie (SE Poland) in recent years. The material includes observations collected from 2012 to 2018 from two macroregions: Kotlina Sandomierska and Pogórze Środkowobeskidzkie. The paper contains a number of details on phenology and biology of the species – the female’s behaviour during oviposition, host plant, eggs and young caterpillars up to the 3rd stage, which are illustrated with photos.

Defensive Strategies of a Noctuid Caterpillar in a Myrmecophytic Plant: are Dyops Larvae Immune to Azteca Ants?

Immature stages of insects are generally susceptive to their natural enemies, but many species developed defensive and evasive mechanisms to circumvent predation. Gregarious larvae of the noctuid moth Dyops cf. cuprescens feed on leaves of young Cecropia pachystachya shrubs colonized by Azteca ants. Ants avoid contact with larval clusters, retreating to the nest when larvae are moving near the stems. Provoked encounters revealed that Dyops caterpillars present several specialized behaviors to avoid and overcome ant attacks, such as fleeing to under leaf, jumping off the leaf, curling and wriggling vigorously the anterior portion of the body, spitting droplets of oral fluids, or killing ants by pouncing them. These mechanisms allow the caterpillars to overcome ant attacks and consume leaves of ant-colonized plants. By feeding on a heavily protected plant, larvae can enjoy not only a competitor-free plant, but possibly also the enemy-free space created by the aggressive ants.