Rts Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS DENVER MUSEUMDENVER OF NATURE & SCIENCE NUMBER 4, JULY 5, 2016

WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (Print) ISSN 2374-7730 2001 Colorado Boulevard Denver, CO 80205 Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (Online) ISSN 2374-7749 Frank Krell, PhD, Editor and Production REPORTS • NUMBER 4 JULY 5, 2016

Cover photo: Cameraria ohridella (Gracillariidae) Acanthopteroctetes aurulenta male reared from leaf mine on Aesculus hippocastanum L. (Acanthopteroctetidae) Gilpin Co., Colorado, (horse-chestnut), Austria, March 1992. 22.vii.2014, leg. Barbara Bartell. Photo: Todd Gilligan. Photo: David Bettman.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (ISSN 2374-7730 [print], ISSN 2374-7749 [online]) is an open- access, non peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing papers about DMNS research, collections, or other Program and Abstracts Museum related topics, generally authored or co-authored by Museum staff or associates. Peer review will only be First North American arranged on request of the authors. Microlepidopterists’ Meeting

The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/Science/ July 5, 2016 Museum-Publications free of charge. Paper copies are Denver Museum of Nature & Science Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata female exchanged via the DMNS Library exchange program (Acanthopteroctetidae), Gilpin Co., Colorado, ([email protected]) or are available for purchase 09–10.vi.2015, leg. Barbara Bartell. from our print-on-demand publisher Lulu (www.lulu.com). David J. Bettman (Ed.) Photo: David Bettman. DMNS owns the copyright of the works published in the Reports, which are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial use of published material contact the Alfred M. Bailey Library & Archives at [email protected]. WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS NUMBER 4, JULY 5, 2016

Program and Abstracts First North American Microlepidopterists’ Meeting July 5, 2016, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Edited by CONTENTS David J. Bettman1 Program 2

Abstracts—Oral Presentations 3

Abstracts—Workshop 6

The meeting was organized by Vazrick Nazari, David Bettman, and Todd Gilligan and was hosted by Frank-T. Krell at the Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

1Department of Zoology Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2001 Colorado Boulevard Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, USA [email protected] Bettman 1st North American Micolepidopterists’ Meeting

PROGRAM

Tuesday, July 5 9:00am–9:15am: Frank Krell: Welcome and Introduction (Ludlow Griffith Workshop Zoology, Level B2)

9:15am–10:55am: Contributed Talks (B2) 9:15am–9:40am: Mari Kekkonen: Sorting the mess of micros: How DNA barcodes can help with specimen identification 9:40am–10:05am: Todd Gilligan, Peter Huemer & Benjamin Wiesmair: Different continents, same species? Resolving the taxonomy of some Holarctic Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) 10:05am–10:30am: Vazrick Nazari: The identity of the South American potato tuber moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) 10:30am–10:55am: Jurate De Prins: Online Global Gracillariidae database – a web-based tool expanding the user audience beyond taxonomists 10:55am–11:15am: Break (DMNS main floor) 11:15am–1:20pm: Contributed Talks (B2) 11:15am–11:40am: David Bettman: New and interesting microlepidoptera of Colorado 11:40am–12:05pm: Stephanie Shank: Collecting microlepidoptera in Baja California, Mexico 12:05am–12:30pm: David G. Holden: Encounters with the moths of British Columbia 12:30pm–12:55pm: Marc E. Epstein: Dyar’s breakup of the ‘Bombyces’ (1894-1896) and modern classification of microlepidoptera 12:55pm–1:20pm: Brian G. Scholtens & M. Alma Solis: New North American check list for Pyraloidea

1:20pm–2:20pm: Lunch (on your own)

2:20pm–5:00pm: Workshops and Access to the DMNS Collections (B2) 2:20pm–3:05pm: Sangmi Lee: Whole-body dissection of microlepidoptera 3:05pm–3:50pm: Chris Grinter & Todd Gilligan: Spreading techniques for microlepidoptera 3:50pm–4:10pm: Break (DMNS main floor) 4:10pm–5:00pm: Workshops and Access to the DMNS Collections (B2) 4:10pm–5:00pm: David Bettman (facilitator): Round-table discussion: Making and customizing field equipment for microleps and microlep rearing techniques

5:00pm: Dinner (at a local restaurant)

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ABSTRACTS—ORAL PRESENTATIONS leading to increasingly more integration of data. Most attention now focuses on linking the different data components of interacting species assemblages. There New and interesting microlepidoptera of is no doubt that molecular tools will allow the incor- Colorado poration of new dimensions into existing taxonomic datasets. The application of taxonomic and molecular David Bettman tools is leading to more accurate hypotheses on food Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & webs and community ecology. Due to their highly Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado specialized trophic relationships and their way of 80205-5798, USA ecological behavior, the family of leaf-mining moths [email protected] Gracillariidae is probably one of the richest of difficult case studies in food web interactions. I would like to The microlepidopteran fauna of Colorado is still far present an online tool available from www.gracillari- from fully explored. The primitive moth family Acan- idae.net which allows for assembling and linking all thopteroctetidae is here confirmed for the state, with available taxonomic data on gracillariid species, their two species present (Acanthopteroctetes aurulenta and host plants, and their parasitoids in a structured and A. bimaculata) on the Colorado Front Range. Many searchable format. I shall present some examples on additional Coloradan microlep taxa will be discussed cryptic interactions between plants, gracillariid moths and illustrated (Hepialidae, Prodoxidae, Ypsolophidae, and their parasitoids in Africa. I shall emphasize the Douglasiidae, Pterolonchidae, Depressariidae, Pyrali- significance of a careful case-by-case approach in dae, Crambidae, etc.) documenting new state records, assessing the multi-trophic interactions. probable introductions, new life history data, and more.

Dyar’s breakup of the ‘Bombyces’ Online Global Gracillariidae database—a (1894–1896) and modern classification of web-based tool expanding the user audi- microlepidoptera ence beyond taxonomists Marc E. Epstein Jurate De Prins Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, California Department Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautier- of Food & Agriculture, Sacramento, California straat 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium 95832, USA [email protected] [email protected]

Online verified, concise, searchable and updated taxo- The contributions to the higher classification of Lepidop- nomic databases can serve as a foundational basis for tera by Harrison G. Dyar, Jr., born 150 years ago, have been taxonomic scientific hypotheses and also for a wide largely forgotten. My talk provides a brief account of this range of biological and ecological disciplines. A consen- work and how it came to be. After receiving a B.S. in Chem- sus has already been achieved among the lepidopterist istry at M.I.T. (1889), Dyar took two lengthy collecting community that taxon delimitation and designation trips across North America on which he reared a number processes are tested as a scientific hypothesis on mul- of caterpillars. Near the end he wrote of needing more tiple kinds of evidence (e.g. morphological, molecular, education in biology, and decided on spending another biological, ecological, behavioral etc.). Taxonomy can year at M.I.T. and a summer at Woods Hole Biological profit a lot from newly developed techniques that are Station. In 1893–94 Dyar attended Columbia for his M.S.,

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while completing with Neumoegen a catalogue of ‘Bom- difficulty in identifying morphological characters to byces’, the group in which many macrolepidoptera were define and separate these taxa has brought into ques- placed. For his M.S. project Dyar was likely encouraged by tion their true distribution and led to inconsistencies his professors to use a Darwinian approach to his studies in their taxonomic treatment in Europe and North on Lepidoptera. To pursue a new larval-based classifica- America. Here we discuss using a combination of DNA tion, one that forms the foundation of our current system barcode sequence data and morphology to resolve of microlepidoptera, Dyar acquired additional specimens these taxonomic differences, determine the actual geo- of many Lepidoptera families through colleagues in N. graphic ranges of these taxa, and describe several new America and Europe. Dyar used a hypothesis on the evolu- species. In the A. unguicella group, only A. unguicella tionary transformation of larval setae as the basis for his and A. uncella (Denis & Schiffermüller) are Holarctic classification, and to further delineate Comstock’s (1893), in distribution. In the A. geminana group, none of which used wing latching mechanisms and venation. This the taxa are Holarctic in their distribution. Resulting led to the shift of groups formerly lumped in the ‘Bomby- taxonomic changes include two new synonymies, two ces’ (e.g., Megalopygidae, Limacodidae) to being placed species raised from synonymy, and the description of with families considered to be microlepidoptera. three new species.

Different continents, same species? Encounters with the moths of British Resolving the taxonomy of some Holarctic Columbia Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) David G. Holden Todd Gilligan* Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 400 - 4321 Still Identification Technology Program, USDA-APHIS-PPQ- Creek Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5C 6S7, S&T, 2301 Research Blvd., Suite 108, Fort Collins, Canada Colorado 80526, USA [email protected] [email protected] British Columbia is the 5th largest Province in Canada Peter Huemer and consists of 75% mountainous terrain, with most of Tiroler Landesmuseen Betriebgsges.m.b.H., Natur- it extremely difficult to access and sample. Sitting mostly wissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Feldstr. 11a, A-6020 west of the Rocky Mountain range, the moth fauna is Innsbruck, Austria fairly isolated from eastern species and forms a distinct [email protected] western assemblage of moths. The latest calculations of the currently-known moth fauna include 2,768 con- Benjamin Wiesmair firmed species. In this talk I will briefly discuss my path Tiroler Landesmuseen Betriebgsges.m.b.H., Natur- to becoming a lepidopterist and my current interests, wissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Feldstr. 11a, A-6020 backyard moth monitoring, an overview of my research Innsbruck, Austria collection, and some of my collecting localities in BC [email protected] (some of which you may want to visit).

Several species of Ancylis related to A. unguicella (Linnaeus) and A. geminana (Donovan) have been presumed by previous authors to be Holarctic. However,

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Sorting the mess of micros: how DNA The identity of the South American potato barcodes can help with specimen tuber moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) identification Vazrick Nazari Mari Kekkonen Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Biodiversity Insti- and Nematodes, Ottawa Research and Development tute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada N1G 2W1 Ontario, Canada K1A 0C6 [email protected] [email protected]

It is not easy to be a microlepidopterist. Specimens are The South American potato tuber moth is a widespread small, wing patterns can be totally absent, the diversity pest of potatoes and tomatoes in the southern United States of known species is high and the number of unde- to South America and the Australian regions, yet its true scribed species is probably even higher. You sit by your identity remains unverified. The type specimens of Trichot- desk, staring at tens of greyish-brownish mini-moths aphe tangolias Gyen, 1913, reared by C. Silva Figueroa on and wondering how you can ever sort out this mess. Do potatoes from Bucalemu, Chile, are lost. The identity of not despair! In addition to field guides, books, articles, this species was thus established by Hodges & Becker in keys, informative web sites and taxonomic experts 1990 based on a wing-prep of a specimen sent to August (and especially if none of these is available), there is Busck by Silva Figueroa in 1916. Based on this slide (also also a genetic alternative – DNA barcoding. now lost) the latter authors synonymized several South The quality of DNA barcode-based identifica- American and Australian species (plaesiosema Turner, tion increases with the expanding reference library. melanoplintha Meyrick, tuberosella Busck) with Chilean Currently, there are ca. 1.2 M lepidopteran records of tangolias and moved this taxon under Symmetrischema. specimens collected from 158 countries and over 100 The Czech Entomologist Dalibor Povolný had previously K public BINs (i.e., putative species delineated by the (1977) synonymized the Peruvian aquilina Meyrick with Barcode Index Number system) on the BOLD database, Australian plaesiosema; in 1990, he described S. costari- creating numerous opportunities to successfully canum from Costa Rica, a taxon that remained unstudied identify challenging micros to species, genus or family. until recently. Examination of the type specimens of all of However, the efficient use of DNA barcodes for iden- these taxa and DNA barcoding of many specimens across tification requires knowledge of the various tools on its current range reveals that our current understanding BOLD. In my talk, I will compare the three main tools, of the taxonomy of this species-group is in dire need of a BINs, Identification Engine and neighbour-joining thorough revision. (NJ) trees (i.e., Taxon ID Trees on BOLD), and provide experience-based tips on how to get the most out of them. In addition, I will present some examples from the microlepidopteran realm.

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New North American check list for on Baja Butterflies, ant communities, and new species Pyraloidea of beetles. Very little has been recorded or published about the Heterocera of Baja California. A recent trip, Brian G. Scholtens* during which three sites were sampled in the Valle de los Biology Department, College of Charleston, Charles- Cirios, revealed many species of moths. Not surprisingly, ton, South Carolina 29424, USA these moths offer more complete range information [email protected] for moths that occur in the southwest desert of the United States. This presentation focuses on the locali- M. Alma Solis ties, habitat and species of micromoths collected at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, National three sites. Voucher collections are housed at CIDA and Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 168, CICESE (The Center for Scientific Research and Higher Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA Education at Ensenada). [email protected]

We updated the North American check list of Pyraloidea ABSTRACTS—WORKSHOP by compiling information from publications since 1983 and incorporating recent records from Lep Soc Season Summaries and collectors. In total, we list 1542 species, Round-table discussion: Making and including 861 Crambidae and 681 Pyralidae, for about a customizing field equipment for microleps 10% increase in total numbers since 1983. Included are and microlep rearing techniques many higher level changes at the family and subfamily level. We described no new taxa, but created several new David Bettman (facilitator) combinations and synonyms using transfers as indicated Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & from recent publications and examination of types. We Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado also exclude 13 previously listed species. All additions, 80205-5798, USA deletions and changes are documented in an extensive [email protected] notes section. Most microlep workers wind up developing their own gear (or their own customizations of standard equip- Collecting microlepidoptera in Baja Cali- ment) to take into the field, in addition to their own fornia, Mexico procedures for rearing out micros. These innovations are usually not widely known and therefore many Stephanie Shank wheels wind up being reinvented. This round-table Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History, The College discussion will focus on sharing techniques for making of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho 83605, USA effective killing jars, making light traps and phero- [email protected] mone traps, using non-standard gear such as malaise traps, etc. as well as techniques for rearing leaf miners For many years scientists have studied the biodiversity, and other micros. Attendees are encouraged to bring ecology, geology and history of Baja California. Much their gear, designs, and modifications to show and has been published in scientific and popular literature demonstrate. regarding the unique ecological and plant communities in Baja California. More recently, several insect families have been studied, resulting in publications

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Spreading techniques for microlepidoptera

Chris Grinter* Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 S Oak Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820-0904, USA [email protected]

Todd Gilligan* Identification Technology Program, USDA-APHIS- PPQ-S&T, 2301 Research Blvd., Suite 108, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, USA [email protected]

Anyone who has worked with microlepidoptera is acutely aware that standard spreading techniques for larger moths tend to give poor results when used on micros. This workshop will illustrate two spreading techniques particularly suited to the challenges micromoths pose. Chris Grinter will demonstrate a highly efficient method for mounting micros upside- down on foam; Todd Gilligan will demonstrate the use of miniature spreading boards and his “point-set” technique.

Whole-body dissection of microlepidoptera

Sangmi Lee Hasbrouck Insect Collection, School of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 874501, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501, USA [email protected]

A whole-body mount preparation, in which scales are removed and body parts are mounted on slides, is one method to facilitate comparative morphological studies, especially on microlepidoptera. The procedures of the method will be given, and examples of characters of the de-scaled body will be given for selected species of some microlepidopteran families.

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