DOI: 10.3897/asp.82.e104232

Authors: Zhengyang Liu

Abstract: The moth genus Sinobirma was reared successfully for the first time, based on specimens of Sinobirma bouyeri collected in the southeastern Himalayas of Tibet. Larvae were reared on the host plants Coriaria nepalensis and Prunus cerasoides in captivity in Yunnan. Morphology and biology of the ovum, larvae, and pupa of S. bouyeri are described in detail. The species exhibits strong gregarious behavior during all larval instars, with mature larvae of S. bouyeri primarily feeding at night. The larvae are black and decorated with green stripes, pupating individually in the soil. Numerous host plants known to be used by African and Asian Saturniidae were tested with larvae of this species. The first parasitoid for the genus Sinobirma is reported. The complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced and used to reconstruct a molecular phylogeny to test the tribal placement of Sinobirma. The paper provided further evidence that Sinobirma originated from the African mainland and reached the Himalayas through dispersal.

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DOI: 10.3897/asp.81.e107507

Authors: Elton Orlandin, Mônica Piovesan, Daniel Herbin, Eduardo Carneiro

Abstract: Apatelodidae is a family of Neotropical bombycoids that still needs to be studied in several aspects, as many groups of species have not yet undergone a careful systematic revision. On the other hand, recent studies showed that some species known to be widely distributed in fact form species complexes. Until now, Olceclostera bifenestrata Schaus, 1912, described from Costa Rica, supposedly has a wide distribution, reaching the south of Brazil. We reviewed specimens from South America identified as O. bifenestrata. Using morphological data and DNA barcodes, we discovered that South American specimens belong to four new species: Olceclostera jairana sp. nov., Olceclostera quilombola sp. nov., Olceclostera xeta sp. nov. and Olceclostera wayana sp. nov. The four species can be distinguished mainly by characters of genitalia, mostly in aedeagus structures. However, wing characters (number of hyaline spots) and abdomen characters (number of patches of larger scales) may be useful for classifying species groups in Olceclostera. Additionally, we illustrate and describe for the first time all the life stages of an Olceclostera species, including its chaetotaxy and life history, and provide the first SEM images of the egg of an Apatelodidae species. We present a discussion about the morphological characters of adults and immatures and their relevance to the systematics of Apatelodidae.

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