<p>The
prevalence of monoculture and landscape simplification is correlated with
diminished biodiversity and increased presence of harmful pest species in crop
environments. Lepidoptera is the largest clade of herbivorous insects, with
many agriculturally significant species. The pest status of insects in agricultural settings is human-defined
based on behaviors that may negatively impact the yield of susceptible crops.
As such, both the insect behavior and the affected crop play a part in
determining pest status. One helpful means of understanding pest status
involves using pest injury guilds, which distinguish different pest groups
based on similar kinds of injury to comparable plant tissues. Pest injury
guilds defined in the literature are reviewed and then applied to
agriculturally-significant Lepidoptera. Specialized Lepidoptera behaviors are
reviewed within their respective injury guilds, and the systematics, ecology,
and control options for fruit-piercing moths are discussed within the context
of pest Lepidoptera behaviors. To address the need for distribution information
for economically relevant Lepidoptera, the first annotated checklist of
pest Lepidoptera is also provided for the United States and Canada. This
checklist includes 80 agriculturally significant Lepidoptera species and
complexes, and incorporates notes on distribution, species delimitation,
natural history, and establishment.<br></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p>Fruit-piercing
moths in the genus <i>Eudocima</i> Billberg,
1820 have significant pest status as adults rather than as larvae, and directly
injure fruits using a specially-adapted proboscis. There are at least 48 <i>Eudocima</i> species which are found in the
world’s tropics, but confusion persists in the classification of this genus and
there are several suspected complexes. Additionally, the area of origin for
this group is uncertain, although the Oriental region has been postulated. A
comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of <i>Eudocima</i>
is conducted using 82 morphological characters, which are each described and
figured, and analyzed using parsimony. Results suggest that <i>Eudocima</i> is not monophyletic. Strongly-resolved
relationships were recovered, although these did not correspond with previous
generic concepts. The Australian region is recovered as the most parsimonious
area of origin for <i>Eudocima</i>, and
patterns of dispersal, particularly between the Oriental and Australian regions
along the Indo-Australian Archipelago, are discussed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The <i>Eudocima phalonia</i>-complex is distributed
throughout the Old World and has been the subject of increasing interest and
research due to its economic impact in the tropics and status as a potential
invasive species. The recent description of closely-related sister species, as
well as morphological variation documented within <i>E. phalonia</i> itself, suggests possible speciation occurring within <i>E. phalonia</i> populations across its wide
geographic range. To test species boundaries for this taxon, a molecular
phylogeny is constructed using anchored hybrid enrichment and a next-generation
sequencing approach. Sampling for this phylogeny was informed using a global
range map for <i>E. phalonia</i>, which was
developed using georeferenced specimen data from natural history collections.
Biogeographic analyses are also conducted to investigate the area of origin and
dispersal patterns of <i>E. phalonia</i>,
and to examine possible speciation modes and gene flow. Georeferenced range
information is also utilized along with environmental variables in constructing
a correlative environmental niche model using MaxEnt, which is used to evaluate
a previous mini risk assessment for environmental suitability in the
continental United States for <i>E. phalonia</i>
establishment. Results suggest that <i>E.
phalonia</i> is monophyletic, with gene flow still occurring between
populations. The area of origin for <i>E.
phalonia</i> is postulated to be the Oriental region, although further
investigation is needed. Range predictions for <i>E. phalonia</i> from environmental modelling were performed for both the
Old World, which concurred well with occurrence data, and for the New World. Assessment
of environmental suitability for <i>E.
phalonia</i> in the continental United States suggests areas in Florida and
along the Gulf Coast are most favorable for establishment.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/9159653 |
| Date | 16 October 2019 |
| Creators | Crystal Klem (7053191) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/Evolutionary_Studies_of_Fruit-Piercing_Moths_in_the_Genus_Eudocima_Billberg_Lepidoptera_Erebidae_/9159653 |
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