Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile

BACKGROUND: Host plant specificity refers to the preference of insects for particular plant species that allow them to complete their life cycle. Moth species of the Geometridae family depend closely on the vegetation composition to complete their life cycles. In northern Chile, the Geometridae spec...

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Autores principales:	Méndez-Abarca,Felipe, Méndez,Camila F, Mundaca,Enrique A
Lenguaje:	English
Publicado:	Sociedad de Biología de Chile 2014
Materias:	Asteraceae Azapa Chaca Geometridae
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2014000100019
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spelling	oai:scielo:S0716-078X20140001000192015-07-23Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern ChileMéndez-Abarca,FelipeMéndez,Camila FMundaca,Enrique A Asteraceae Azapa Chaca Geometridae BACKGROUND: Host plant specificity refers to the preference of insects for particular plant species that allow them to complete their life cycle. Moth species of the Geometridae family depend closely on the vegetation composition to complete their life cycles. In northern Chile, the Geometridae species Glena mielkei is the only species described of the genus Glena. So far, this species has only been associated to a single host plan species of the Asteraceae family, Trixis cacalioides. The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of five commonly occurring plant species of Asteraceae as hosts for G. mielkei. FINDINGS: We collected G. mielkei larvae from T. cacalioides plants occurring in the Azapa valley and reared them in the laboratory. We tested host plant suitability by exposing recently lab-reared adults of G. mielkei to the following Asteraceae species: T. cacalioides, Pluchea chingollo, Baccharis salicifolia, Grindelia tarapacana and Tessaria absinthioides. Larvae fed with G. tarapacana died of starvation within four to five days. Larvae fed with B. salicifolia fed partially on the plant but died within the first and third day. Larvae fed with both plant species did not complete their development. Larvae fed with T. cacalioides, P. chingollo and T. absinthioides developed into adult stages, producing viable progeny. CONCLUSIONS: We found T. cacalioides, P. chingollo and T. absinthioides to be suitable hosts for G. mielkei.None of the larvae fed on G. tarapacana and B. salicifolia completed their life cycle. We conclude that this narrow range of host plants potentially threatens G. mielkei given the continuous loss of its host plants and feeding sources due to habitat loss and agricultural activities.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSociedad de Biología de ChileRevista chilena de historia natural v.87 20142014-01-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2014000100019en10.1186/S40693-014-0022-2
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	English
topic	Asteraceae Azapa Chaca Geometridae
spellingShingle	Asteraceae Azapa Chaca Geometridae Méndez-Abarca,Felipe Méndez,Camila F Mundaca,Enrique A Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile
description	BACKGROUND: Host plant specificity refers to the preference of insects for particular plant species that allow them to complete their life cycle. Moth species of the Geometridae family depend closely on the vegetation composition to complete their life cycles. In northern Chile, the Geometridae species Glena mielkei is the only species described of the genus Glena. So far, this species has only been associated to a single host plan species of the Asteraceae family, Trixis cacalioides. The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of five commonly occurring plant species of Asteraceae as hosts for G. mielkei. FINDINGS: We collected G. mielkei larvae from T. cacalioides plants occurring in the Azapa valley and reared them in the laboratory. We tested host plant suitability by exposing recently lab-reared adults of G. mielkei to the following Asteraceae species: T. cacalioides, Pluchea chingollo, Baccharis salicifolia, Grindelia tarapacana and Tessaria absinthioides. Larvae fed with G. tarapacana died of starvation within four to five days. Larvae fed with B. salicifolia fed partially on the plant but died within the first and third day. Larvae fed with both plant species did not complete their development. Larvae fed with T. cacalioides, P. chingollo and T. absinthioides developed into adult stages, producing viable progeny. CONCLUSIONS: We found T. cacalioides, P. chingollo and T. absinthioides to be suitable hosts for G. mielkei.None of the larvae fed on G. tarapacana and B. salicifolia completed their life cycle. We conclude that this narrow range of host plants potentially threatens G. mielkei given the continuous loss of its host plants and feeding sources due to habitat loss and agricultural activities.
author	Méndez-Abarca,Felipe Méndez,Camila F Mundaca,Enrique A
author_facet	Méndez-Abarca,Felipe Méndez,Camila F Mundaca,Enrique A
author_sort	Méndez-Abarca,Felipe
title	Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile
title_short	Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile
title_full	Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile
title_fullStr	Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile
title_full_unstemmed	Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile
title_sort	host plant specificity of the moth species glena mielkei (lepidoptera, geometridae) in northern chile
publisher	Sociedad de Biología de Chile
publishDate	2014
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2014000100019
work_keys_str_mv	AT mendezabarcafelipe hostplantspecificityofthemothspeciesglenamielkeilepidopterageometridaeinnorthernchile AT mendezcamilaf hostplantspecificityofthemothspeciesglenamielkeilepidopterageometridaeinnorthernchile AT mundacaenriquea hostplantspecificityofthemothspeciesglenamielkeilepidopterageometridaeinnorthernchile
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Host plant specificity of the moth species Glena mielkei (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in northern Chile

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