FRAGMENTA FAUNISTICA 54 (2): 137–147, 2011 PL ISSN 0015-9301 © MUSEUM AND INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY PAS
Noctuidae s. l. (Lepidoptera) from sugarcane fields of SW Iran
Mehdi ESFANDIARI, Mohammad Saeed MOSSADEGH and Parviz SHISHEHBOR
Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran; e-mail: apameini@yahoo.com
Abstract: A study on the Noctuidae which include key pests in most of the world’s sugar-producing regions was done in four sugarcane producing, agro-industrial areas in the province of Khuzestan, southwestern Iran. Night samplings were made by light trap during 2007 and 2008. A total of 52 noctuid species belonging to 10 subfamilies were recorded. Amongst these, 22 were new to Khuzestan and one, Archanara polita (Walker, 1865) is newly reported for Iran. It is concluded that cropland weeds that act as host plants for many of these noctuids help to support biodiversity in the monoculture of sugarcane productions in southwestern Iran Key words: Noctuidae, fauna, sugarcane, Khuzestan, Iran
INTRODUCTION The process of refining sugar is said to have been worked out at Jundi Shapur city in Khuzestan province, SW Iran. Sugarcane cultivation in Khuzestan was obsolescent about 600 years ago due to unknown reasons (Adams 1962). Efforts to establish sugarcane industry in Khuzestan started in 1950's. At present, available area for planting sugarcane in Khuzestan is more than 130 000 ha. The majority of insect species feeding on sugarcane are local species that have moved from feeding on grasses to feeding on the introduced sugarcane, and few species are cosmopolitan (Strong et al. 1977). Of particular importance are the moth borers, a group of diverse Lepidoptera, primarily noctuids and pyraloids, which are key pests in most of the world’s sugar-producing regions (Lange et al. 2004). With more than 25000 included species, Noctuidae form the largest family within the order Lepidoptera worldwide (Fibiger 1990). The Noctuidae include numerous economic important crop pests (Holloway 1998). The first step towards any pest management strategy is the correct identification. Many of the stem borers, particularly those of the Noctuidae, have great morphological similarity between species and some intra-specific variability. Misidentifications of these pests have occurred frequently, resulting in the publication of false data (Tams & Bowden 1953, Holloway 1998, Polaszek 1992). The general aim of this study was to inventories the noctuid fauna of sugarcane fields within sugarcane agro-industries of the Khuzestan province, SW Iran. Present paper is a continuation of the previous works dealing with this aim (see Esfandiari et al. 2010, Esfandiari et al. 2011).
MATERIAL AND METHODS Collectings were carried out during 2007 and 2008. Moths were attracted to a generator- driven mercury-vapour (MV) lamp that was placed inside a white tent about 1.8 m in height. The materials were collected in 4 sugarcane agro-industries in Khuzestan (Fig. 1, Table 1). Samplings were done, on the average, every 10 days in the sampling localities. Sugarcane 138 M. Esfandiari, M. S. Mossadegh and P. Shishehbor farms are located in the semi-arid lowland parts of Khuzestan province, which are excessively hot and dry in the summer. The annual average rainfall does not exceed 260 mm. sugarcane trials boundaries are separated by windbreaks, irrigation drains and roads. Light trap was established on the roads between fields and it was placed at least 3 km away from neighbouring, non-sugarcane fields.
Fig. 1. Map of the study area showing the position of 4 sugarcane plantations in SW Iran: Amir Kabir agro-industry (AK), Karun agro-industry (KR), Farabi agro-industry (FA), Imam Khomeini (Shoeibieh) agro-industry (IK).
Table 1. List of the study sites.
Abbreviation Locality Coordinates Elevation (m) Area (ha) AK Amir Kabir agro-industry 31º03´N 48º14´E 7 10000 KR Karun agro-industry 32º10´N 48º36´E 68 20000 FA Farabi agro-industry 30º06´N 48º36´E 6 6000 IK Imam Khomeini (Shoeibieh) agro-industry 31º46´N 48º44´E 23 10000
The specimens were deposited in Insect and Mite Collection of Ahwaz (IMCA), Plant Protection Department, Shadid Chamran University, Ahwaz, Iran. The Noctuidae systematics and nomenclature are according to Hacker (2001) with later modifications.
RESULTS A total of 52 noctuid species belonging to 10 subfamilies were recorded. Among them, four taxa were previously reported as new for Iranian fauna (Esfandiari et al. 2010). Here, we report on the discovery of Archanara polita (Walker 1865) as a species new to the fauna of Iran. Species denoted with an asterix (*) have not yet been recorded from Khuzestan province.
Family Noctuidae Latreille, 1809 Noctuidae from sugarcane fields of SW Iran 139 Subfamily Rivulinae Grote, 1895
Rivula tanitalis Rebel, 1912* Material examined: 1♂, KR, 29/III/2007.
Subfamily Hypeninae Herrich-Schäffer, [1851]
Zekelita ravalis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1851)* Zekelita revolutalis Zeller 1852 Material examined: 1♂, KR, 27/II/2007; 1♂, AK, 14/IX/2007.
Subfamily Catocalinae Boisduval, [1828]
Lygephila (Tathorhynchus) xsiccate (Lederer, 1855)* Material examined: 1♂, KR, 9/V/2007.
Acantholipes regularis (Hübner, [1813])* Material examined: 1♀, IK, 8/V/2008.
Drasteria flexuosa (Ménétriés, 1848) Material examined: 2♀, AK, 21/IV/2007; 1♂1♀, AK, 4/V/2007; 1♀, AK, 22/V/2007. Remarks: checking the specimens of D. sinuosa (Staudinger, 1884), which was reported by Mossadegh & Kocheili (2003) from Khuzestan, revealed that they are D. flexuosa. However, D. flexuosa was previously reported from Khuzestan by Barou (1967).
Drasteria kabylaria kabylaria (Bang-Haas, 1906) Material examined: 1♀, IK, 6.IV.2008. Remarks: Refer to Esfandiari et al. (2010).
Pericyma squalens Lederer, 1855 Material examined: altogether 22♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality from April to July during 2007–2008. Remarks: P. squalens differs from similar P. albidentaria (Freyer, 1842), which occurs in Khuzestan, with more defined wavy-dentate black crosslines on forewing and a clear yellowish flush on hind wing.
Rhabdophera arefacta (Swinhoe, 1884)* Material examined: 1♀, KR, 27/II/2007; 1♂, KR, 9/V/2007; 1♂, KR, 2/V/2008; 1♂, IK, 4/XI/2007. Remarks: it was recorded as new to the Iranian fauna in 2002 from Hormozgan with two specimens (Ebert & Hacker 2002).
Heteropalpia vetusta (Walker, 1865) Material examined: 2♂, KR, 25/VI/2007. 140 M. Esfandiari, M. S. Mossadegh and P. Shishehbor Pandesma robusta (Walker, 1858)* Material examined: 2♀, KR, 22/IV/2007; 1♀1♂, KR, 4/V/2007; 1♂3♀, KR, 26/V/2007; 1♀1♂, KR, 25/VI/2007; 1♀1♂, IK, 3/V/2008; 1♂2♀, FA, 4/V/2008.
Clytie delunaris (Staudinger, 1889) Material examined: 1♂, AK, 21/IV/2007; 1♂, KR, 2/V/2008; 1♂, AK, 4/V/2007; 1♂, KR, 26/V/2007; 1♂, KR, 25/VI/2007. Clytie terrulenta terrulenta (Christoph, 1893)* Material examined: 1♂, IK, 3/V/2008; 1♂, IK, 8/V/2008.
Clytie sancta (Staudinger, 1898)* Material examined: 1♂, IK, 3/V/2008; 1♀, IK, 19/V/2008; 1♂, KR, 10/IX/2008.
Dysgonia torrida (Guenée, 1852)* Material examined: 1♂, KR, 9/V/2007; 1♀, IK, 3/V/2008.
Grammodes bifasciata (Petagna, 1787)* Material examined: 1♀, KR, 26/V/2007; 1♂, AK, 23/VI/2007; 2♂, AK, 5/X/2007; 1♂, IK, 3/V/2008; 1♀, IK, 19/V/2008. Remarks: in Iran collected so far in Northern parts of the country (Hacker 1990).
Grammodes boisdeffrii (Oberthür, 1876) Material examined: 1♂, FA, 4.V.2008. Remarks: Refer to Esfandiari et al. (2010).
Subfamily Plusiinae Boisduval, [1828]
Trichoplusia ni (Hübner, [1803]) Material examined: altogether 51♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in May, June, July and September during 2007–2008.
Thysanoplusia daubei (Boisduval, 1840) Material examined: 2♂, KR, 27/ X/2007; 1♀, IK, 8/V/2008. Remarks: recorded as new to the Iranian fauna in 2002 (Ebert & Hacker 2002).
Cornutiplusia circumflexa (Linnaeus, 1767) Material examined: altogether 62♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in March, April, May, June and September during 2007–2008.
Subfamily Acontiinae Guenée, 1841
Acontia lucida (Hufnagel, 1766) Material examined: 1♀, AK, 21/IV/2007; 5♀, KR, 22/IV/2007; 2♂1♀, AK, 4/V/2007; 3♂1♀, KR, 9/V/2007; 1♀, KR, 7/X/2007; 1♂, FA, 4/V/2008; 1♂, KR, 2/V/2008.
Acontia (Emmelia) trabealis (Scopoli, 1763) Material examined: 1♂, AK, 5/X/2007; 1♀, AK, 10/IX/2008. Noctuidae from sugarcane fields of SW Iran 141 Dysmilichia flavonigra (Swinhoe, 1884) Material examined: 1♀, along Dez river (West KR), 11.IX. 2008; 1 ex., IK, 8.V.2008. Remarks: Refer to Esfandiari et al. (2010).
Subfamily Amphipyrinae Guenée, 1837
Boursinia deceptrix (Staudinger, 1900)* Material examined: 3♂, IK, 4/IX/2007; 1♂, FA, 12/IX/2007. Remarks: B. ferdovsi Brandt, 1941, described from Iran (Fars province), differs from B. deceptrix in narrower clasper which exceeds costa dorsally while in deceptrix it is thicker turning more clear ventrally and only partly exceeds costa; Furthermore, B. ferdovsi has stronger digitus and longer cornuti on the vesica.
Catamecia minima jordana Staudinger, 1898* Material examined: 4♂4♀, AK, 21/IV/2007; 1♂1♀, KR, 9/V/2007; 9♂1♀, AK, 4/IX/2007; 2♂, AK, 14/IX/2007; 3♀, 5/X/2007; 1♂, FA, 12/XI/2007.
Subfamily Heliothinae Boisduval, [1828]
Heliothis peltigera ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) Material examined: altogether 31♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in March, April, May, June and October during 2007–2008.
Heliothis nubigera Herrich-Schäffer, 1851 Material examined: 1♂1♀, AK, 21/IV/2007; 1♂, AK, 4/V/2007; 1♂, KR, 9/V/2007.
Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner, [1808]) Material examined: altogether 32♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in April, May, June, September and October during 2007–2008. Remarks: it is a well-known pest of various crops and has up to 5 generations in Khuzestan (Mossadegh & Kocheili 2003).
Subfamily Xyleninae Guenée, 1837
Spodoptera exigua (Hübner, [1808]) Material examined: altogether 103♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in April, May, June, July, September and October during 2007–2008. Remarks: it is an important pest of summer corn in Khuzestan as well as all sugar beet cultivations of Iran. It has up to 7 generations in Khuzestan (Mossadegh & Kocheili 2003, Khanjani 2004).
Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval, 1833) Material examined: 1♀, KR, 22/IV/2007; 2♂, AK, 4/V/2007; 5♂2♀, KR, 26/V/2007; 1♀, KR, 25/VI/2007; 1♂, KR, 6/XI/2007. Remarks: the polyphagous larvae normally damage crops, 10–15 %, in Khuzestan where they have 5–6 generations and are active more than 9 months in a year (Khanjani 2004). 142 M. Esfandiari, M. S. Mossadegh and P. Shishehbor Caradrina clavipalpis (Scopoli, 1763)* Material examined: 1♂, KR, 9/V/2007; 1♂, AK 27/X/2007; 2♂, IK, 19/V/2008; 2♂1♀, IK, 8/V/2008. Eremohadena (=Pseudohadena) coluteae (Bienert, 1869)* Material examined: 1♀, AK, 21/IV/2007. Remarks: described from Eastern Iran, also recorded in Mazandaran and Tehran provinces (Hacker 1990, Ebert & Hacker 2002); distributed in a relatively wide but interrupted area from Iran to Chinese Turkestan and NW Himalaya (Ronkay & Varga 1993).
Sesamia cretica Lederer, 1857 Material examined: It was on the wing in each sampling locality during the sampling period throughout the year except January and February. In AK and FA agro-industries it was dominant, compare with S. nonagrioides, in summer and early autumn. Remarks: This species together with Sesamia nonagrioides Lef., have been the key pests of sugarcane in Iran and their damage on sugarcane was reported for first time in 1959 (Daniali 1985). The egg parasitoid, Telenomus busseolae Gahan (Hym.: Scelionidae), is considered to be effective in biological control of this pest. Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre, 1827) Material examined: It was on the wing in each sampling locality during the sampling period throughout the year except January and February. In AK and FA agro-industries it was dominant, compare with S. cretica, in early spring and late autumn. Remarks: This stem borer pest was previously identified as S. nonagrioides botanephaga Tams & Bowden in southern Iran (Daniali 1985). However, Esfandiari et al. (2011) revealed that it is nominotypical S. nonagrioides and the African ssp. botanephaga does not occur in Iran. S. nonagrioides has 4–5 annual generations and have been considered as an important pest of sugarcane, corn and rice in Khuzestan province. It attacks several cultivated and non-cultivated graminaceous species (Mossadegh & Kocheili, 2003). Despite of severe damage caused by S. nonagrioides in rice fields of Khuzestan which was reported by Daniali (1985), we didn't find any damage of this pest in rice fields, adjacent to damaged sugarcane fields. The egg parasitoid Telenomus busseolae Gahan (Hym.: Scelionidae) is the most important parasitoid of S. nonagrioides in Iran (Jamshidnia et al. 2010). Nonagria puengeleri pringlei (Wiltshire, 1958)* Material examined: 1♀, KR, 2/V/2008; 1♀, IK, 3/V/2008; 3♀, FA, 4/V/2008. Remarks: Its wing margin is more unicolour than N. typhae (Thunberg, 1794), which occurs in Iran, and the clear white spots at tips of wings of N. typhae are missing in ssp. pringlei. Black marginal line is interrupted in typhae but missing in ssp. pringlei. Wiltshire (1990) collected this species from marshes in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Its larva seems to feed in stems of Phragmites australis, which grows in drains of sugarcane fields of SW Iran. Arenostola sp. Material examined: 6 ♂♀, KR, 8.V.2007.
Archanara polita (Walker, 1865) (Fig.2) Material examined: 1♂, KR, 9/V/2007. Remarks: A. polita was described from Shanghai; however, in the case of such genera as Archanara, Sesamia, etc., the large distances between the fragments of the area are not really Noctuidae from sugarcane fields of SW Iran 143 significant because they live in extrazonal habitats. Nevertheless, most information about the unrevised "Amphipyrinae sensu Hampson" groups belongs to old statements. The generic placement and specific identity of species belong to such genera as Archanara will be most probably changed in the future, especially those which occur in the more subtropical and tropical areas.
Fig. 2. Adult male and genitalia of Archanara polita (Walker, 1865), new for the fauna of Iran.
Subfamily Hadeninae Guenée, 1837
Hadula trifolii (Hufnagel, 1766)* Material examined: altogether 93♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in March, April, May, June, September and October during 2007–2008.
Hadul sp. Material examined: 3♂1♀, AK, 5/10/2007; 1♂, FA, 12/11/2007; 1♀, FA, 14/03/2008.
Cardepia sociabilis socialis Hacker, 1998* Material examined: 2♂, AK, 21/IV/2007; 2♂, AK, 22/V/2007; 2♂3♀, IK, 2/III/2008; 1♂, IK, 6/IV/2008. Remarks: the holotype was described by Hacker (1998) from NW Iran.
Lacanobia praedita (Hübner, [1809–1813])* Material examined: 1♂, AK, 23/VI/2007; 4♂3♀, AK, 5/X/2007; 1♂1♀, KR, 5/IV/2008. Remarks: in Iran collected so far in NW of the country (Hacker 1990).
Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth, 1809) Material examined: 3♂, IK, 19/V/2008.
Mythimna congrua (Hübner, [1817]) Material examined: 7 ex., KR, 25.IV.2007; 10 ex., KR, 8.V.2007; 2♂, KR, 7.X.2007; 1 ex., KR, 6.XI.2007; 5 ex., KR, 5.IV.2008; 1 ex., IK, 6.IV.2008, 1♂, AK: 2.IV.2008; 2♂, Prov. Fars, 20 km E of Firuzabad, Mahkooyeh, 1600 m, 30.VIII.2008 Remarks: Refer to Esfandiari et al. (2010). 144 M. Esfandiari, M. S. Mossadegh and P. Shishehbor Leucania zeae (Duponchel, 1827) Material examined: altogether 43♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in March, April, May, June and September during 2007–2008.
Leucania palaestinae Staudinger, 1897* Material examined: 1♂, KR, 8/V/2007; 2♂, KR, 5/IV/2008; 2♂, FA, 15/III/2008. Remarks: this species varies greatly in size and facies but differs from its closet species, L. zeae, by its unicolourous beige-drab forewing without small whitish reniform stigma, the ochreous hindwing and by its broader cucullus and well-developed ventral extension which is missing in the L. zeae (Hacker et al. 2002).
Leucania loreyi (Duponchel, 1827) Material examined: 3♂, KR, 26/V/2007; 1♂, KR, 12/IX/2008; 1♀, KR, 14/IX/2008; 1♀, IK, 6/IV/2008.
Subfamily Noctuinae Latreille, 1809
Agrotis lasserei (Oberthür, 1881) Material examined: 3♂, FA, 12/XI/2007.
Agrotis segetum ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) Material examined: altogether 32♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in March, April, May and September during 2007–2008.
Agrotis trux (Hübner, [1824])* Material examined: 1♂, AK, 27/X/2007.
Agrotis puta (Hübner, [1803])* Material examined: 2♂, KR, 27/II/2007; 2♂, KR, 6/XI/2007; 1♂, IK, 2/III/2008.
Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel, 1766) Material examined: altogether 21♂♀ were collected from each sampling locality in March, April, May, June and September during 2007–2008.
Agrotis spinifera (Hübner, [1808]) Material examined: 1♀, KR, 26/V/2007; 1♀, KR, 25/VI/2007.
Noctua pronuba (Linnaeus, 1758)* Material examined: 1♂, IK, 4/XI/2007; 1♂, KR, 22/IV/2007; 1♂, KR, 5/IV/2008.
DISCUSSION The Noctuidae of Khuzestan especially in the western parts, which are hot and dry plains close to Arabian Peninsula and Afrotropical region, has poorly investigated. The scarcity of data does not permit to make a proper faunal analysis of this region. Most of our species are really widely distributed in the Levante region, Mediterranean parts of SW Turkey, S Europe, Noctuidae from sugarcane fields of SW Iran 145 Arabian Peninsula and N Africa. Of course, they are not inhabitants everywhere within this region, but many of them are common migrants and agricultural pests, e.g. Trichoplusia ni, Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exigua. In our list, we have a few species which practically are not belong to the same faunal types: such species as the Clytie spp. which are members of the hot stream valleys, feed on Tamarix spp. E. coluteae is a strictly different species from all the others, as it is characteristic to the stony hills and not a migrant or pest. Although, we see the presence of North African elements such as Grammodes boisdeffrii which was reported for the first time from Iran by Esfandiari et al. (2010); but this faunal relationships must be confirmed by more intensive sampling. Finally, it seems that a small local revision of some rare or critical species (e.g. Esfandiari et al. 2011) would be necessary in the future. Each geographical region has its own distinctive sugarcane pest fauna derived in most, if not all, instances from indigenous insect species that have adopted sugarcane as a host consequent on its cultivation in a particular area. This has been made possibly by the close botanical relationship between sugarcane and many species of wild grasses (Strong et al. 1977). For example, Sesamia nonagrioides seems to have moved from feeding on grasses to feeding on sugarcane soon after the establishment of sugarcane fields in Khuzestan (Daniali 1985, Esfandiari et al. 2011). The necessity to determine the constituents of the cane-field fauna before developing a generic pest incursion management plan is, therefore, essential. A total of 52 noctuid species were recorded during the present study, nine of which namely Sesamia nonagrioides, S. cretica, Leucania loreyi, Mythimna unipuncta, Spodoptera exigua, Helicoverpa armigera, Agrotis ipsilon (Box 1953), A. segetum (Robinson et al. 2010), A. spinifera (=biconica) (Kumarasinghe 2002), have been recorded previously as sugarcane feeders in other countries. However, these reports are regardless of the status of the insect, i.e. whether the species identified is a major pest or a rear species occasionally feeding on sugarcane. Totally, we found 5 species of the Mythimna and Leucania genera. Several species of these two genera has been identified, also, in sugarcane fields in other parts of the world (Box 1953, Kumarasinghe 2002, Robinson et al. 2010). Some species may use sugarcane as an alternative host when their main hosts such as corn, wheat, rice, sorghum etc., which are of short duration, are harvested. Leucania zeae, Mythimna unipuncta and Leucania loreyi, for example, have all been recorded as corn feeders in Iran (Khanjani 2004). At least one of the host plants, mainly weeds, reported in the literature for each noctuids we identified in the present study, is a weed in sugarcane fields in Khuzestan (unpublished data). In spite of using pre-planting herbicides in the sugarcane fields, cropland weeds grow in non- cropped areas such as field margins, crop-field boundaries with windbreaks, irrigation drains and in open spaces between plants during growing season. For example, Phragmites australis, which grows in irrigation drains, is the host plant of Nonagria puengeleri pringlei, Archanara spp., Arenostola spp. and Leucania spp. These data indicate that most of these noctuid species are not in any way directly connected with the sugarcane plant, but are sometimes permanently associated with the habitat due to feeding regularly on cane-field weeds. The noctuids we collected could not have been attracted to the light trap from neighbouring, non-sugarcane fields because the trap was placed at least 3 km away from such fields. Unlike our studies, faunistic studies in sugarcane fields in Sri Lanka (Kumarasinghe 2002) resulted in the finding of 4 species, only, of Noctuidae. This low number could be an artifact of poor collecting. Based on material examined and personal observations it might conclude that the abundance of moths in this region, however despite the slight difference between the weather of northernmost and southernmost parts, increase in spring and its peak of population is in May. At this time the average temperature and relative humidity are about 30˚C and 50%, 146 M. Esfandiari, M. S. Mossadegh and P. Shishehbor respectively. At this period most of vegetations have developed in full stages in which become feeding spot and refuge places for various insects including moths. When we approach the summer, rising temperature (even the maximum temperature reached 51˚C) and decreasing relative humidity exert an influence on insect assemblages and cause rapid decrease in the moth population. From September the abundance of moths moderately increase over the autumn with improvement of ecological conditions and climatic factors. The most common noctuid species were S. exigua, S. cretica, S. nonagrioides, T. ni, C. circumflexa, H. peltigera and H. armigera during the study. Generally weeds, and their associated insects, can serve as a source of increased diversity in agroecosystems (Norris & Kogan 2005). In agricultural systems, biodiversity performs services to the ecosystem that include regulation of the abundance of undesirable organisms (Altieri 1999). Soleymannejadian (2002) showed that planting strips of alfalfa around sugarcane fields in Khuzestan could increase biodiversity indices with a resultant reduction in the damage caused by Sesamia spp. It seems that weeds, acting as host plants or refuges for many insect species, help to support biodiversity in the monoculture sugar plantations of SW Iran.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to Prof. Kauri Mikkola, Zoological Museum of Helsinki, Finland; Dr. Laszlo Ronkay, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest; the late Mr. Michael Fibiger, Sorø, Denmark and Dr. Martin Lödl, Natural History Museum-Vienna, Austria for their help in identification of some materials; Dr. F.R. Hunter-Fujita, University of Reading, UK, for her critical review and language editing of the paper and Dr. Peter Gyulai, Miskolc, Hungary for useful discussions. We thank all sugarcane agro-industries authorities who supplied the collecting permits. We also want to thank Mr. Reza Abolfarsi for providing the map image. This work was supported by the grant from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz-Iran.
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STRESZCZENIE [Sówkowate (Noctuidae) upraw trzciny cukrowej południowo-zachodniego Iranu] Badania nad sówkowatymi (Noctuidae), zaliczanymi do kluczowych szkodników upraw trzciny cukrowej, zostały przeprowadzone w agroprzemysłowych obszarach w prowincji Khuzestan w południowo-zachodnim Iranie. Sówkowate Khuzestanu, szczególnie jego zachodniej części, która jest gorącą i suchą równiną w sąsiedztwie Półwyspu Arabskiego i regionu Afro-tropikalnego, są słabo poznane. Nocne odłowy były prowadzone w pułapki świetlne w roku 2007 i 2008 na 4 przemysłowych uprawach trzciny cukrowej w Khuzestanie. W sumie, wykazano 52 gatunki, należące do 10 podrodzin sówkowatych. Wśród nich są cztery taksony wykazane uprzednio jako nowe dla fauny irańskiej (Esfandiari et al. 2010). W aktualnej pracy odnotowano dwa gatunki nowe dla prowincji Khuzestanu i jeden Archanara polita (Walker, 1865) nowy dla fauny Iranu. Z uwagi na to, że trzcina jest rośliną żywicielską dla wielu z zarejestrowanych gatunków sówkowatych, jej uprawa ma wpływ na bioróżnorodność południowo-zachodniego Iranu.
Accepted: 7 November 2011