The genus Calyptra Ochsenheimer is known for its atypical behavior of exhibiting both obligate fruit piercing and facultative blood feeding as adults. The genus has been reported piercing a vast array of fruits including citrus, figs, grapes, and raspberries. One species, Calyptra canadensis (Bethune), more commonly known as the Meadow Rue Owlet moth, is the only member of the genus known to occur in the New World. The extent of this species' range, along with its adult host breadth, remains unknown. Museum specimens of C. canadensis from 20 institutions and private collections were examined and georeferenced to generate the most comprehensive distribution map for the species to date. Locality data was analyzed to explore the phenology of C. canadensis, recovering an adult activity period from May to October. Larval rearing experiments were also undertaken, documenting the presence of five larval instar stages and a development time ranging from 6 to 8 weeks. Overall this study expands what is currently known about the biology of C. canadensis, specifically its larval development, adult distribution, and activity period.

The different geographic populations of Lophocampa maculata Harris 1841 are characterized by a variety of phenotypic differences, of which larval color is the most obvious. Individuals of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) populations display significant variation in late instar coloration, arising from variation in setae pigmentation. Such variation is not found in other populations of Lophocampa maculata, including the western Interior population (WI) and California Coastal population (CAC). Analysis of the pattern of pigmentation of the PNW population suggests it represents a combination of features of the CAC and WI populations. A simple scheme that accounts for all of the color variations seen in the different geographic populations of L. maculata is presented. A laboratory mating experiment involving WI and CAC individuals resulted in viable offspring displaying the range of larval coloration seen in the wild PNW populations. The F1 hybrids were fertile and produced an F2 generation also exhibiting the PNW larval color patterns. Taken together, these results suggest that the PNW populations arose via hybridization between the adjacent WI and CAC populations. Evidence from laboratory-raised broods of wild-caught females suggests there can be significant individual variation in pigmentation even within a single brood. The present day PNW populations demonstrate features of a hybrid swarm resulting from relatively recent hybridization. A model for this process since the last glacial maximum is presented.

Pine savannas in the Southeastern United States are subject to an historical regime of periodic fire, with many and varied ecological consequences. Insectivorous plants of the genus Sarracenia (L.) (Sarraceniaceae) often entirely lose their aboveground leaves to these periodic fires. During the growing season, these tubular leaves, which act as pitfall traps for insects, are host to pitcher plant moths, Exyra (Grote) (Noctuidae), which live their entire life cycle within the plant. This study tested the effect of smoke on a small sample of Exyra semicrocea in pitchers, and demonstrated that they respond quickly by flight.

The present paper describes the immature stages of the common Neotropical satyrine butterfly Pareuptychia ocirrhoe interjecta (R.F. d'Almeida, 1952). The solitary eggs are white and round, turning black 4 to 6 hours after oviposition. The four solitary larval instars are predominantly green and feed on grasses (Poaceae), including Setaria in nature and several other native and introduced species in captivity. The pupa is short and smooth and entirely green. Except for the black eggs, the immature stages are similar to those of other forest species of Euptychiina. The most remarkable and unique characteristic of P. ocirrhoe interjecta is the shiny black eggs, a possible synapomorphy for Pareuptychia not known in any other Euptychiina.

Tent caterpillars are generalists across their full host range, but display local host plant preferences. We present evidence for a new host plant record, wax currant (Ribes cereum), for western tent caterpillars (Malacosoma californicum) along the Colorado Front Range. We tested the suitability of wax currant as a host plant for western tent caterpillars as compared to chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), an abundant and commonly used host plant. We measured the density of tent caterpillar tents in areas where both host plants occur to assess host plant use. We reared tent caterpillar larvae on both host plants and measured fitness effects due to host plant quality (survival, pupal mass) and natural enemies (parasitism). We did not find a relationship between host plant abundance and use by tent caterpillars and found no evidence for a preference for either host plant. We found that western tent caterpillars do not differ in pupal mass when reared on chokecherry and on wax currant in a laboratory setting, but did vary in survival with greater survival on wax currant. We found no difference in parasitism rate for larvae collected from chokecherry or wax currant. Our results suggest that wax currant is a suitable yet previously unrecorded host plant for tent caterpillar larvae.

Collecting and observation of the diurnal geometrid, Heterusia atalantata (Guenée, [1858]), in Natura Park, Veracruz by the first coauthor led to an interest in the distribution and behavior of this species in Mexico. Records from the literature and several Mexican collections as well as the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in Florida have resulted in these notes on the distribution, altitudinal occurrences and behavior of this species.

The immature stages of the Neotropical mistletoe butterfly Archonias brassolis tereas (Godart) (Pieridae: Pierini) are described and illustrated for the first time from the Atlantic Forest of Southeast Brazil. Eggs are laid in clusters on leaves of the mistletoe Phoradendron sp. (Viscaceae). Larvae are gregarious and underwent five instars. Mature caterpillars present yellow aposematic color pattern; pupae are yellow with black dorsal projections. Morphology, host plant use and behavior of immature stages are similar to species in the Catasticta group. An additional species of mistletoe butterfly, Brangas sp. (Lycaenidae), with gregarious and aposematic yellow caterpillars was found in sympatry on the same leaves of the host plant. These findings suggest that both interspecific competition and larval mimicry are important traits in the ecology and evolution of mistletoe butterflies.

A new subspecies of ithomiine butterfly, Oleria gunilla lourdes n. ssp., is described from northern Mato Grosso in central Brazil. The new taxon is confidently assigned to Oleria gunilla on the basis of both morphological and molecular evidence. Its wing pattern, with a broad expanse of orange on the dorsal forewing, is typical of the mimetic color patterns found in Ithomiini in the upper Amazon and Andean foothills of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, very far from the type locality in northern Mato Grosso, where this taxon has no known co-mimics. Future studies are needed to investigate the mimetic relationships of this taxon with other sympatric butterflies.

Invasive species are thought to influence native biodiversity through a wide range of direct and indirect effects. We examined the influence of an invasive plant, Lantana camara, on butterfly assemblages in a tropical forest in India. Lantana camara typically dominates the understorey in invaded areas and might therefore reduce the availability of resources and microhabitats essential for butterflies. We hypothesized that butterflies would show reduced use of lantana-dominated habitat when compared with native vegetation. We evaluated such reduced habitat use by testing for (1) reduced levels of behaviours other than feeding and (2) fewer butterfly species and individuals in lantana-dominated habitat patches. To test these expectations, three plots of 30 × 30 meters each were laid in lantana-dominated and native-vegetation patches. In total, three plots in native-vegetation and three in lantana-dominated habitat were marked. Butterfly behaviour was measured through focal-animal follows, and abundance and species numbers were investigated using point sampling inside these plots. We found that butterflies showed substantial behavioural differences between lantana-dominated and native-vegetation plots, indicating a possiblity that the invaded patches were relatively less suitable for several butterfly activities. Furthermore, fewer butterfly species and individuals were seen in lantana-dominated compared with native-vegetation habitat, indicating that lantana invasion results in reduced suitability of a habitat. Whether local behavioural effects of invasive plants, such as reduced habitat use, can lead ultimately to reduced population sizes and local extinctions will need to be examined.