Topic
Limacodidae
About: Limacodidae is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 131 publications have been published within this topic receiving 736 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
TL;DR: Nine new species of Itaplectops Townsend are described from Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica by combining morphological, photographic, and genetic barcode data to provide clear yet concise descriptions.
Abstract: Nine new species of Itaplectops Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) are described from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica. All specimens have been reared from -various species of ACG caterpillars in the families Limacodidae and Dalceridae. By combining morphological, photographic, and genetic barcode data we provide clear yet concise descriptions. The following nine new species are described in the genus Itaplectops: Itaplectops akselpalolai, Itaplectops anikenpalolae, Itaplectops argentifrons, Itaplectops aurifrons, Itaplectops ericpalolai, Itaplectops griseobasis, Itaplectops omissus, Itaplectops shellymcsweeneyae, Itaplectops tristanpalolai. We move Itaplectops to the tribe Uramyini from its original placement within the Blondeliini, and we discuss its systematic placement. We also provide a key differentiating the, genera of the tribe Uramyini as well as the known species of Itaplectops.
163 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that limacodid larvae that are heavily armored with stinging spines are well defended against attacks from invertebrate predators and are significantly more likely to survive predator encounters than are unspined or lightly spined larvae.
Abstract: Predators have played a significant role in the evolution of herbivorous insects, and we can observe a wide variety of larval defense mechanisms in nature, especially among members of the Lepidoptera. Slug caterpillars (Limacodidae) are known for their unusual morphologies, including various types of protuberances and stinging spines on their dorsal surfaces, which suggest that their evolution has been strongly shaped by their interactions with predators. We tested the hypothesis that limacodid larvae with stinging spines would suffer less predation from generalist predators than larvae that either did not possess stinging spines or were more lightly spined. In a series of behavioral bioassays, we tested the preferences of 2 different invertebrate predators (assassin bugs and paper wasps) for ‘‘spined’’ or ‘‘unspined’’ larvae. We found that all of the predators preferred the unspined or lightly spined prey species over the heavily spined limacodid species Acharia (¼Sibine) stimulea. Our results also indicate that at least one of the predators that we tested, the paper wasps, showed a form of aversion learning as indicated by a decreased number of inspections of A. stimulea after previous experience. We conclude that limacodid larvae that are heavily armored with stinging spines are well defended against attacks from invertebrate predators and are significantly more likely to survive predator encounters than are unspined or lightly spined larvae. Key words: antipredator, behavior, larval defense, Lepidoptera, Limacodidae, Polistes, predation, prey choice, Reduviidae. [Behav Ecol]
69 citations
TL;DR: The genus Naryciodes was originally proposed as a monobasic genus by Matsumura (1931) but was transferred to Limacodidae by Inoue (1982) because the larvae possess an autapomorphic character of LimacODidae: the lack of crochets on the prolegs.
Abstract: The genus Naryciodes was originally proposed as a monobasic genus (type species: Naryciodes posticalis Matsumura) by Matsumura (1931) in Tineidae. About fifty years later, the genus was transferred to Limacodidae by Inoue (1982) because the larvae possess an autapomorphic character of Limacodidae: the lack of crochets on the prolegs (Epstein et al. 1999).
68 citations
TL;DR: The results imply that cuticular cavities were probably present in the larvae of the most recent common ancestor of Zygaenidae, and the Phaudinae are raised to family rank because this subfamily is recovered in a reasonably well supported species cluster consisting of members of the families Lacturidae, Limacodidae, Himantopter Families, and Somabrachyidae.
65 citations
TL;DR: Thespea aka, sp. nov., is described as new from Arunachal Pradesh, India as discussed by the authors, and four species are recorded for the first time from India: Melinaria pseudorepanda kalawensis (Orhant, 2000) and Parasa julikatis Solovyev Witt, 2009, recorded in ArunACH, and Thosea lutea Heylaerts, 1890 and Mambarona congrua (Walker, 1862), recorded in Great Nicobar Island.
Abstract: Thespea aka, sp. nov., is described as new from Arunachal Pradesh, India. Additionally, four species are recorded for the first time from India: Melinaria pseudorepanda kalawensis (Orhant, 2000) and Parasa julikatis Solovyev Witt, 2009, recorded in Arunachal Pradesh, and Thosea lutea Heylaerts, 1890 and Mambarona congrua (Walker, 1862), recorded in Great Nicobar Island. Diagnosis and distribution are provided for all taxa listed and the males and their genitalia are illustrated.
63 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2016 | 1 |