The Noctuidae Mocis Hubner in Louisiana by Vernon Antoine Brou Jr., 74320 Jack Loyd Road, Abita Springs, Louisiana, 70420 email: [email protected] In Louisiana, four species of Mocis Hubner (Fig. 1.) occur as adults in considerable numbers much of the year. These same species are listed by Hodges (1983) for America north of Mexico. In Florida, these same four species were reported by Kimball (1965). Most recently, Heppner (2003) listed Mocis cubana Hampson as also occurring in the Florida Keys. Four species of Mocis are reported for Texas by Knudson & Bordelon (1999). Two species, (Gn.) and (Morr.) appear to be resident species in Louisiana, while the smaller in size species: (Gn.) and Mocis disseverans (Wlk.) appear to occur primarily as large fall migrations, peaking during October (Fig. 2c, 2d). Four species of Mocis (Fig. 1) were previously reported for Louisiana by Chapin and Callahan (1967) without illustration.

a b c d

e f g h

Fig. 1. Mocis of Louisiana: M. marcida , a. male, e. female, M. texana , b. male, f. female, M. latipes c. male, g. female, M. disseverans, d. male, h. female.

Mocis marcida is the most frequently encountered of the four species in Louisiana, occurring in all 12 months in what appears to be at least five annual broods (Fig.2a), and Mocis texana appears to have at least three broods (Fig. 2b). Mocis disseverans is the least encountered of the four Louisiana species. A total of 5,668 specimens of Mocis were taken in this study. Most of the species can be separated without difficulty when fresh. All the species can vary in color and maculation, and aberrants do occur. Both sexes of the four species display a tiny white orbicular spot on the forewing. Male disseverans display prominent dull orange tibial hairs, which are helpful in distinguishing it from the highly variably colored latipes, though females of these two are often difficult to differentiate. 75 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

50

a. Mocis marcida , n = 3313 25 number of adults

0

30 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

b. Mocis texana , n = 1056 15 number of adults

0

40 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

c. Mocis latipes , n = 1165 20 number of adults

0 20 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

d. Mocis disseverans , n = 134 10 number of adults

0 Fig. 2. Adult Mocis specimens collected at sec.24T6SR12E, 4.2 mi. NE Abita Springs, Louisiana: a. M. marcida, b. M. texana, c. M. latipes, d. M. disseverans.

a b c d

Fig. 3. Parishes in which Mocis species have been collected: a. M. marcida, b. M. texana, c. M. latipes, d. M. disseverans. Species of Mocis are (Gramineae) grass feeders, including economically important ones as sugar cane, corn and rice, all significant agricultural crops in Louisiana. Other reported food plants include crab grass, beans, and turnips (Covell (1984), though some of these require confirmation. The locality distribution records for Mocis are depicted in Fig. 3.

Literature Cited

Chapin, J.B. and Philip S. Callahan 1967. A list of the Noctuidae (, Insecta) collected in the vicinity of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Proc. La. Acad. Sci. 30: 39-48. Covell, Jr., C.V. 1984. A field guide to eastern North America. The Peterson Field Guide Series No. 30. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. xv + 469pp., 64 plates. Heppner, J.B. 2003. of Florida and neighboring land areas, vol. 17: Lepidoptera of Florida, Div. Plant Industry, Fla. Dept. Agr. and Consum. Serv., Gainesville. x + 670pp., 55 plates. Hodges, R.W. et al. 1983. Checklist of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico. E.W. Classey Ltd. and The Wedge Entomol. Res. Found., Cambridge: Univ. Press. xxiv + 284 pp. Kimball, C. P. 1965, Arthropods of Florida and neighboring land areas, vol. 1: Lepidoptera of Florida, Div. Plant Industry, Fla. Dept. Agr., Gainesville. v + 363pp., 26 plates. Knudson, E. and C. Bordelon 1999. Texas Lepidoptera Survey, Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Texas 2000 edit. 2 Mocis marcida 0 Mocis texana 0 Mocis latipes 2 1 n = 3313 0 n = 1056 0 n = 1165 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 4 2 2 0 1 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 75 0 30 0 40 0 20 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 6 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 5 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 7 6 0 0 7 1 0 0 2 75 0 30 0 40 0 20 5 3 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 4 3 0 0 7 5 0 0 5 6 0 1 6 5 0 0 2 7 0 0 5 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 5 5 0 0 6 6 0 0 6 9 1 0 6 9 0 0 4 3 0 1 4 6 0 1 3 6 0 0 3 9 0 0 3 8 0 0 4 6 0 0 6 6 0 0 4 4 0 0 5 5 0 0 7 7 0 0 5 10 0 0 5 5 0 0 4 10 0 0 8 8 0 0 4 75 8 30 0 40 0 20 1 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 6 5 0 0 8 4 0 0 7 10 0 0 7 8 0 0 5 4 0 0 5 3 0 0 3 5 0 0 3 6 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 6 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 9 3 0 0 10 2 0 0 10 3 0 0 19 2 0 0 21 2 0 0 19 1 0 0 12 1 0 0 10 0 0 0 15 1 0 0 15 1 0 0 28 75 1 30 0 40 0 20 36 0 0 0 30 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 22 0 0 0 41 1 0 0 12 0 0 0 23 1 0 0 27 0 0 0 47 1 0 0 58 1 0 0 28 1 0 0 13 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 6 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 9 75 4 30 0 40 0 20 8 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 2 4 0 0 11 9 0 0 11 8 0 0 10 9 0 0 8 9 0 0 7 10 0 0 10 8 0 0 6 14 0 0 3 9 0 0 4 12 0 1 3 7 0 0 6 7 0 0 7 13 0 0 6 14 0 0 10 9 0 0 10 14 0 0 7 7 0 0 18 13 0 1 20 7 0 0 10 6 0 0 12 10 0 0 10 10 0 0 10 10 0 0 21 11 0 0 25 8 0 0 11 7 0 0 10 5 0 0 35 75 2 30 0 40 0 20 22 10 0 0 10 8 0 0 11 5 3 0 9 1 2 0 3 1 0 0 8 5 0 0 13 3 0 0 12 5 1 0 9 6 0 0 8 3 0 0 9 3 0 0 9 1 0 0 18 1 0 0 12 1 1 0 4 0 1 0 16 3 0 0 15 4 0 0 8 3 0 0 14 2 0 0 15 3 0 0 12 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 8 3 0 0 8 3 0 1 7 5 0 0 6 6 0 0 5 75 5 30 0 40 0 20 2 4 0 0 5 6 0 0 9 3 0 0 5 9 0 0 6 11 0 0 6 8 1 0 8 10 1 0 4 6 2 0 10 7 1 0 13 10 0 0 13 11 2 0 17 13 1 0 19 23 3 0 38 17 1 1 25 24 4 0 45 28 4 0 27 22 1 1 8 6 0 0 6 11 0 0 15 24 1 0 5 9 24 3 5 5 7 0 16 10 2 0 7 12 2 2 5 7 0 3 11 6 8 0 3 3 1 0 10 5 3 0 5 5 1 1 5 3 5 0 1 75 3 30 0 40 1 20 4 5 4 1 4 3 1 1 6 2 8 0 12 7 3 2 12 7 2 0 13 7 6 0 17 8 5 1 7 3 5 0 18 6 3 1 23 5 13 0 40 9 6 0 22 6 9 1 23 3 6 0 3 1 2 0 4 2 6 1 3 0 4 0 3 1 7 0 15 2 4 1 31 1 7 1 31 2 10 1 30 0 23 0 29 0 11 0 13 1 7 2 17 1 10 0 21 1 10 1 34 2 18 0 11 2 5 0 11 1 1 0 17 1 4 1 17 75 0 30 6 40 1 20 21 0 7 0 13 1 12 2 19 0 8 5 29 1 9 7 21 1 12 1 15 0 14 2 18 0 19 0 16 0 18 1 18 0 15 1 10 2 5 0 10 2 4 1 26 0 7 4 23 0 32 6 34 1 25 5 30 0 31 3 20 0 22 6 21 0 25 1 26 0 26 1 21 0 13 3 18 0 13 2 10 0 15 2 14 0 16 1 18 0 16 2 19 0 13 0 30 0 18 2 5 2 13 3 13 0 12 0 16 0 23 0 12 0 24 1 3 0 10 1 6 75 4 30 21 40 5 20 11 3 3 2 5 0 5 2 16 0 11 2 17 0 2 1 18 0 3 2 8 0 5 0 4 0 4 1 4 0 6 1 6 0 18 0 3 0 16 2 6 0 18 0 14 0 25 0 6 0 15 1 13 0 15 1 11 0 11 0 14 0 12 0 7 0 9 0 5 0 7 0 8 0 6 0 6 0 8 1 0 0 6 0 1 0 13 0 3 0 14 1 3 2 6 1 4 0 4 2 1 0 3 0 3 0 4 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 7 1 1 75 0 30 2 40 0 20 1 0 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 0 4 1 6 0 11 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 6 0 1 0 3 1 3 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 4 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 75 0 30 1 0 20 Mocis disseverans n = 134