Abstract

The Arctiina, Callimorphina and Spilosomina moths comprise 340 species in the neotropics. Here we provide a list of Arctiina, Callimorphina and Spilosomina species from the Brazilian Amazon. The list was produced from specimens deposited in the most important Brazilian collections and from literature data. We registered 17 species of Arctiina, two of Callimorphina and 16 of Spilosomina. The proportion of Brazilian Amazon Callimorphina (28.6%) and Arctiina (19.1%) in relation to Neotropical fauna were nearly to those found for other Arctiini subtribes in the Brazilian Amazon. However, the Spilosomina records were extremely low, corresponding to only 6.6% of the Neotropical species. Belém, Fonte Boa and Santarém were the municipalities with the highest number of registered species, with 14, 9 and 8, respectively. As this is the last article on the fauna of the Arctiini subtribes of the Brazilian Amazon, we summarize the main patterns observed for the tribe and identify the main knowledge gaps regarding this taxon.

Keywords:
Amazon; Tiger moths; Inventory; Noctuoidea

Resumo

As mariposas Arctiina, Callimorphina e Spilosomina totalizam 340 espécies na região Neotropical. Neste trabalho, nós apresentamos uma lista das espécies de Arctiina, Callimorphina e Spilosomina que ocorrem na Amazônia brasileira. A lista foi produzida através de observação de espécimes depositados nas mais importantes coleções brasileiras e também através de dados da literatura. Foram registradas 17 espécies de Arctiina, duas de Callimorphina e 16 de Spilosomina. A proporção de Callimorphina (28,6%) e Arctiina (19,1%) em relação à fauna neotropical foi semelhante à encontrada para as outras subtribos de Arctiini da Amazônia brasileira. No entanto, os registros de Spilosomina foram extremamente baixos, correspondendo a apenas 6,6% das espécies neotropicais. Belém, Fonte Boa e Santarém foram os municípios com maior número de espécies registradas, com 14, 9 e 8, respectivamente. Como este é o último artigo sobre a fauna das subtribos de Arctiini da Amazônia brasileira, nós resumimos os principais padrões observados para a tribo e identificamos as principais lacunas de conhecimento sobre esse táxon.

Palavras-chave:
Amazônia; Mariposas-tigre; Inventário; Noctuoidea

Introduction

There are currently 1,023 Arctiini moths referred to the Brazilian Amazon, including 273 species of Ctenuchina (Teston et al. 2019aTESTON, J.A. & FERRO, V.G. 2019. Arctiini Leach, [1815] (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of the Brazilian Amazon. IV - Subtribe Euchromiina Butler, 1876. Biota Neotrop. 19(4): e20190747. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2019-0747 (last access on 01/03/2020).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2... ), 219 species of Euchromiina (Teston & Ferro 2019), 62 species of Pericopina (Teston & Ferro 2016a) and 469 species of Phaegopterina (Teston & Ferro 2016b). However, it is still not certain how many species of the Arctiina, Calimorphina and Spilosomina subtribes exist in the Brazilian Amazon region.

The Arctiina and Callimorphina moths have a worldwide distribution (Weller et al. 2009WELLER, S.J., DACOSTA, M., SIMMONS, R.B., DITTMAR, K. & WHITING, M. 2009. Evolution and taxonomic confusion in Arctiidae. In Tiger Moths and Wolly Bears, Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Arctiidae (W.E. Conner, ed.). Oxford University Press, New York, p.11-30.). In the neotropic there are seven genera and 89 species of Arctiina and there is one genus and seven species of Callimorphina (Vincent & Laguerre 2014VINCENT, B. & LAGUERRE, M. 2014. Catalogue of the Neotropical Arctiini Leach, [1815] (except Ctenuchina Kirby, 1837 and Euchromiina Butler, 1876) (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae). Zoosystema 36(2): 137-533.). In adults of Arctiina the size varies from medium to large and the coloring is also varied, with spots and stripes. Male genitalia are simple or reduced. Female pheromone glands can be swollen, divided, and digitated. Larvae have short hair and several species are polyphagous, feeding on plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids (Weller et al. 2009).

Several Callimorphina species tend to be large and brightly colored, and some are diurnal. The morphology of adults, especially in the male genitalia, varies, and in most of them there is a reduced counter-tympanal hood. Larvae feeding on various herbaceous plants, including plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids (Weller et al. 2009WELLER, S.J., DACOSTA, M., SIMMONS, R.B., DITTMAR, K. & WHITING, M. 2009. Evolution and taxonomic confusion in Arctiidae. In Tiger Moths and Wolly Bears, Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Arctiidae (W.E. Conner, ed.). Oxford University Press, New York, p.11-30.).

The Spilosomina moths are also cosmopolitan (Schmidt 2009SCHMIDT, B.C. 2009. A new genus and two new species of arctiine tiger moth (Noctuidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini) from Costa Rica. ZooKeys 9: 89-96. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.9.151 (last access on 29/02/2020).
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.9.151... ). In the Neotropics there are 23 genera and 244 species (Vincent & Laguerre 2014VINCENT, B. & LAGUERRE, M. 2014. Catalogue of the Neotropical Arctiini Leach, [1815] (except Ctenuchina Kirby, 1837 and Euchromiina Butler, 1876) (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae). Zoosystema 36(2): 137-533.). Adults are medium to large in size and vary in color. Larvae feed on low-growth herbaceous plants, and are more common in non-forest habitats, typically xeric forests, savannas, prairies, and wetlands (Schmidt 2009).

The caterpillars of some species present in these three sub-tribes are polyphagic and feed on plants of economic importance, but they are not pests of any importance (Schmidt 2009SCHMIDT, B.C. 2009. A new genus and two new species of arctiine tiger moth (Noctuidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini) from Costa Rica. ZooKeys 9: 89-96. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.9.151 (last access on 29/02/2020).
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.9.151... ; Weller et al. 2009WELLER, S.J., DACOSTA, M., SIMMONS, R.B., DITTMAR, K. & WHITING, M. 2009. Evolution and taxonomic confusion in Arctiidae. In Tiger Moths and Wolly Bears, Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Arctiidae (W.E. Conner, ed.). Oxford University Press, New York, p.11-30. and Teston et al. 2019bTESTON, J.A. & FERRO, V.G. 2019. Arctiini Leach, [1815] (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of the Brazilian Amazon. IV - Subtribe Euchromiina Butler, 1876. Biota Neotrop. 19(4): e20190747. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2019-0747 (last access on 01/03/2020).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2... ).

Here, we present a list of Arctiina, Callimorphina and Spilosomina moths occurring in the Brazilian Amazon. In this article we conclude the series of inventories of Arctiini for the Brazilian Amazon (Teston & Ferro 2016aTESTON, J.A. & FERRO, V.G. 2016a. Arctiini Leach, [1815] (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of the Brazilian Amazon. I - Subtribe Phaegopterina Kirby, 1892. Check List 12(2): 1-16.b, Teston & Ferro 2019 and Teston et al. 2019a).

Materials and Methods

We intensively searched the literature and examined specimens from entomological collections of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas na Amazônia (INPA; Manaus), Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (MPEG; Belém), Coleção Becker (VOB; Camacan), Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure of the Universidade Federal do Paraná (DZUP; Curitiba), Fundação Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (FIOC; Rio de Janeiro), Museu de Zoologia of the Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP; São Paulo), Museu Nacional of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ; Rio de Janeiro), and Laboratório de Estudos de Lepidópteros Neotropicais (LELN) of the Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará (UFOPA; Santarém). To identify the species, we used literature (Hampson 1901HAMPSON, G.F. 1901. Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Arctiadae (Arctianae) and Agaristidae in the collection of the British Museum. Taylor & Francis, London., 1920, Seitz 1919-1925, Vincent & Laguerre 2014VINCENT, B. & LAGUERRE, M. 2014. Catalogue of the Neotropical Arctiini Leach, [1815] (except Ctenuchina Kirby, 1837 and Euchromiina Butler, 1876) (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae). Zoosystema 36(2): 137-533., Watson 1971WATSON, A. 1971. An Illustrated Catalogue of the Neotropic Arctiinae Types in the United States National Museum (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) Part I. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 50: 1-361., 1973) and specimens deposited in the visited collections. The systematic organization to generic level follows Vincent & Laguerre (2014).

The geographical coordinates of the localities in the Brazilian Amazon with Arctiinae records were obtained from the Geo Loc tool of “Species Link date & tools” (http://splink.cria.org.br/geoloc) and Google Earth (https://earth.google.com/web/). The list is organized alphabetically. Species and records without precise location data, and those from locations that belong to more than one biome (e.g., Cerrado and Amazon) were not included in the list.

Results

We registered 17 species of Arctiina, 2 of Callimorphina and 16 of Spilosomina (Table 1). Of the total of 35 species, five were new occurrences for the Brazilian Amazon (three Arctiina and two Spilosomina) (indicated by “NEW” in the Table 1). One Spilosomina species appear as new records for the municipalities and their respective States (indicated three Subtribes (Table 2 and Figure 1). Belém (PA), Fonte Boa (AM), and Santarém (PA) were the municipalities with the highest number of species, with 14, 9, and 8, respectively.

We recorded six genera, of which one were monospecific. The genera Virbia Walker, 1854 presented the highest number of species (13), followed by Hypercompe Hübner, [1819] (8) and Paracles Walker, 1855 (7). The species with the highest number of locality records was Utetheisa ornatrix (Linnaeus, 1758) (with 14), followed by Virbia subapicalis (Walker, 1854) (11), and Paracles laboulbeni (Bar, 1873) (10). Eigtheen species (51.4%) occurred in only one locality (Table 1).

Discussion

We consider low the total number of records for these three subtribes for the Brazilian Amazon (35). This value corresponds to only 10.3% of the Neotropical fauna (340, Vincent & Laguerre 2014VINCENT, B. & LAGUERRE, M. 2014. Catalogue of the Neotropical Arctiini Leach, [1815] (except Ctenuchina Kirby, 1837 and Euchromiina Butler, 1876) (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae). Zoosystema 36(2): 137-533., Teston et al. 2019bTESTON, J.A. & FERRO, V.G. 2019. Arctiini Leach, [1815] (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of the Brazilian Amazon. IV - Subtribe Euchromiina Butler, 1876. Biota Neotrop. 19(4): e20190747. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2019-0747 (last access on 01/03/2020).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2... ) and are slightly larger than the southest Brazilian State (Rio Grande do Sul, 29, Ferro & Teston 2009), which has an area approximately 18 times smaller and a latitude about 6 times larger than the Brazilian Amazon. Considering the subtribes separately, the proportion of Brazilian Amazon Callimorphina (28.6%) and Arctiina (19.1%) in relation to Neotropical fauna were nearly to those found for other subtribes in the Brazilian Amazon (between 17 and 31%, Teston & Ferro 2016ab, Teston & Ferro 2019, Teston et al. 2019a, Vincent & Laguerre 2014). However, the Spilosomina records were extremely low, corresponding to only 6.6% of the 244 Neotropical species (Vincent & Laguerre 2014). A possible explanation for this low richness would be the difficulty in identifying the Spilosomina species. Paracles and Hypercompe, for example, are genera with a large number of species with similar color and size patterns. As we considered in our study only the species with no doubtful identification, many species (including Paracles and Hypercompe) were not included in our list. However, the low number of species in this subtribe in the Amazon may indicate that this taxon is less diverse at low latitudes. In a Peruvian site (latitude 13S), for example, only 5 species of Spilosomina were sampled (Grados, 2002GRADOS, J. 2002. Los Arctiidae y Sphingidae (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) del Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Perú: estudio preliminar. Rev. Peru. Biol. 9(1): 16-22.), but in the southernmost state of Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, latitude about 30S) were recorded 26 species of Spilosomina (Ferro & Teston 2009), 10 more species than the entire Amazon biome. Nevertheless, other samplings carried out at higher latitudes (between 22 and 32S) (but with a much smaller sample effort) found a low number of Spilosomina species: 7 in the Bosque Serrano de la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina (Beccacece et al. 2012BECCACECE, H.M., ZAPATA, A.I., VILLAFAÑE, N.A. & DREWNIAK, M.E. 2012. Árctidos nocturnos (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) del Bosque Serrano de Córdoba, Argentina. Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. 71(1-2): 99-103.), and 5 in the Chaco Serrano and Yungas Ecoregions, also in Argentina (Beccacece et al. 2016).

The highest richness for the three subtribes (Arctiina, Callimorphina and Spilosomina together) in an Amazonian site were 14, 9 and 8 species (Belém, Fonte Boa and Santarém, respectively). These values are similar to those found in well-sampled Atlantic Forest sites, as Boracéia, (10 species, Ferro & Diniz 2007FERRO, V.G. & DINIZ, I.R. 2007. Arctiidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera) da Estação Biológica de Boracéia (Salesópolis, São Paulo, Brasil). Biota Neotrop. 7(3): 331-338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032007000300033 (last access on 01/03/2020).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032007... ) and Joinville (11, Ferro et al. 2012). In the Cerrado well-sampled sites, however, were recorded only seven (Scherrer et al. 2013SCHERRER, S., FERRO, V.G., RAMOS, M.N. & DINIZ, I.R. 2013. Species composition and temporal activity of Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) in two cerrado vegetation types. Zoologia 30(2): 200-210. ) and six (Moreno & Ferro 2016MORENO, C. & FERRO, V.G. 2016. Arctiinae moths (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) of the Emas National Park, Goiás, Brazil. Biota Neotrop. 16(2): e20150037. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2015-0037 (last access on 29/02/2020).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2... ) species of these three subribes.

With this paper we concluded the series of faunal inventories about Brazilian Amazon Arctiini (Teston & Ferro 2016aTESTON, J.A. & FERRO, V.G. 2016a. Arctiini Leach, [1815] (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae) of the Brazilian Amazon. I - Subtribe Phaegopterina Kirby, 1892. Check List 12(2): 1-16., b, Teston & Ferro 2019, Teston et al. 2019a). Some common patterns could be observed in these papers. First, there was a great overlap in relation to the locations with the highest number of Arctiini species records. Belém, the capital of the state of Pará, was among the three most diverse locations in all Arctiini inventory papers (Teston & Ferro 2016a, b, Teston & Ferro 2019, Teston et al. 2019a, this work), followed by Santarém (Teston & Ferro 2019, Teston et al. 2019a, this work), Cacaulândia (Teston & Ferro 2016a, Teston et al. 2019a) and Fonte Boa (Teston & Ferro 2016a, this work). This pattern was probably related to historical sampled effort (several naturalists sampled in the Amazon in the 19th and 20th centuries), and to the proximity/easer access to sampled sites and research institutions. Second, the number of Brazilian Amazon arctiid records was underestimaded for all subtribes. The tiger moth fauna was never sampled in the vast majority of the biome. The Legal Amazon comprises 775 muncipalities and there are sampled records in only 41 for Arctiina, Callimorphina and Spilosomina (this work), 48 for Pericopina (Teston & Ferro 2016b), 69 for Phaegopterina (Teston & Ferro 2016a), 71 for Euchromiina (Teston & Ferro 2019), and 75 for Ctenuchina (Teston et al. 2019a). Besides, the sampling points are poorly distributed and usually restricted to more populated cities and along major rivers. In addition, the majority of the locations were insufficiently sampled, as observed by the large proportion of sites with only one species record (e.g. 58.5% for Arctiina, Callimorphina and Spilosomina). Third, the Arctiini fauna was more diverse in humid than in xeric biomes. There are currently 1,058 Arctiini moths registred to the Brazilian Amazon, considering the subtribes Ctenuchina, Euchromiina, Pericopina and Phaegopterina (Teston & Ferro 2016a, b, 2019, Teston et al. 2019a) and those listed in this study. The Arctiini richness of the the Brazilian Amazon is high but slightly lower than the Atlantic Forest (1,193 species, Ferro & Melo 2011). This suggest a pattern of higher diversity in humid forest environments since in the Cerrado biome there are only 595 Arctiini recorded species (Ferro & Diniz 2010).

In order to suggest efficient conservation policies for the Amazon Arctiini fauna, it is urgent to intensify the sampling effort in this biome, both spatially (more locations, several strata and types of vegetation), and temporally (sampled also during the day, during several months/years, throughout all nocturnal period). Besides, it is necessary a higher investment in taxonomy/systematic research on the Neotropical Arctiinae fauna to reduce the Linnean shortfalls. Finally, we think it is important to expand the studies for the Lithosiini tribe and to understand in more depth the issue of the low richness of Spilosomina in the Amazon.

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the museum curators for allowing VGF’s access to the collections under their care and for logistical support. This publication is part of the RedeLep “Rede Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Lepidópteros”, SISBIOTA-Brasil, CNPq (563332/2010-7).

References

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