Alypiodes Grote currently includes four recognized species of day-flying agaristine noctuids from Mexico and the American Southwest. Here we add a fifth, elevating the name Alypiodes flavilinguisGrote 1883rev. status from synonymy. DNA barcodes, larval characters, and adult markings that reliably differentiate Alypiodes flavilinguis from Alypiodes bimaculata and other species in the genus are enumerated. Adults, including their male and female genitalia, and the larvae are illustrated for both species.

The cerrado savanna is currently one of the most endangered Neotropical biomes, yet while information for many butterfly groups are available from forested habitats, data from savannas and other non-forested habitats remain deficient. The present study assesses the species composition and phenology of fruit-feeding, nymphalid butterfly assemblages in a cerrado reserve at the southern limit of the Brazilian savanna distribution. Butterfly collections were carried out with 20 baited traps organized in four lines of five traps each, from November 2009 to October 2010. In total, 597 individuals from 39 species belonging to all fruit-feeding Nymphalidae clades were captured. Total butterfly abundance peaked at the middle of the wet season, and lowest abundances were recorded in mid dry season. Temperature and precipitation were good predictors of total community abundance and richness, but the most common species showed distinct relationship to these parameters. Species richness in the study site was equivalent or higher to those reported for other cerrado areas, and lower compared to forested habitats. Although interesting patterns emerged from comparative data of fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages, further investigation in diverse Neotropical habitats is needed to produce a more precise picture about the geographical ecology of this insect guild..

The frosted elfin (Callophrys irus) contains a disjunct subspecies (C. i. hadros) found in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana that is being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act as part of the C. irus complex. We assessed the distribution and habitat preferences of this subspecies in Arkansas. From 2018-2020, we surveyed sites of historical records and other suspected habitat for the butterfly and measured habitat variables that could predict occupancy. We detected C. i. hadros at 45 sites out of 208 sites with Baptisia host plants. Host plant number, density, and patch area were significant predictors of butterfly presence. A targeted analysis of one large population found habitat differences between occupied sites and randomly selected sites within the habitat (MANOVA, F_7,46 = 2.47, p = 0.031). Individual contrasts showed that Baptisia percent cover (p = 0.008) and Baptisia abundance (p = 0.016) were higher at occupied sites compared to random sites, while shrub percent cover was lower at occupied sites (p = 0.044). Our results indicate that habitat requirements for this species are somewhat flexible, provided larval host plant species are present at a reasonably large site. Callophrys irus hadros appears widespread but local in the southern and western portions of Arkansas, with many more populations than previously known. However, the majority of detections occurred on public and private rights-of-way, such as utility lines and roadsides. Thus, conservation plans for the frosted elfin may benefit from incorporating habitats currently managed for anthropogenic, rather than conservation, purposes.

Six very similar species of Petrophila Guilding are reviewed and distinguished: P. fulicalis (Clements 1860), P. confusalis (Walker, [1866]), P. canadensis (Munroe, 1972), P. santafealis (Heppner, 1976), P. hodgesi (Munroe, 1972), and P. heppneri (Blanchard & Knudson, 1983). Large digital image sets derived from citizen science databases are used to supplement traditional data sources to elucidate suites of useful diagnostic characters. These expanded data sets allow for examination of phenotypic variation across ranges and for enhanced understanding of distributional patterns. The advantages and disadvantages of such data sets are discussed and existing data gaps are identified.

Morphological characters traditionally utilized to separate the olethreutine genera Eucosma Hübner, Pelochrista Lederer, Epiblema Hübner, and Sonia Heinrich are discussed along with three eucosmine species for which these characters fail to unambiguously determine a generic placement. Eucosma aquilana, sp. n., and Epiblema alba, sp. n., are described from southeastern United States, and Sonia fulminana (Walsingham) is reviewed and transferred to Epiblema comb. n.

Little is known of insect biodiversity on Isla Guadalupe, a large (c. 250 km²) Pacific island located off the west coast of Baja California, Mexico, which has undergone more than 150 years of extensive habitat degradation owing to grazing by feral goats. Goats were successfully eradicated in 2007, and thus Isla Guadalupe provides a rare opportunity to study changes in biodiversity in the flora and fauna as the habitat in this isolated geographic region begins to recover. We conducted a preliminary survey of Lepidoptera biodiversity by collecting and observing mainly adult individuals during July–August, 2019. We also included previous observations from 2003–2016, and two historical records dating back to 1874 and 1922. Our annotated inventory includes 31 species of Lepidoptera (10 species of butterflies from four families, and 21 species of moths from seven families), and includes one butterfly species recorded 100 years ago that we did not find and which may be extirpated. Although life history stages were not recorded (except for the cosmopolitan Vanessa cardui), we also comment on the availability of potential larval host plants based on literature records from other regions. Most of the Lepidoptera species in our inventory (n = 22) have also been recorded from at least one of the comprehensively studied Channel Islands in southern California, USA, and all 31 species are also present on the California mainland. Thus, the Lepidoptera fauna on Isla Guadalupe recorded here corresponds to that associated with Californian Biogeographic Province.

A new subspecies of Lon taxiles (W. H. Edwards, 1861) is described from the Pine Ridge of Nebraska and Black Hills of South Dakota. It is distinguished by the presence of distinct white spots on the VHW of females and darker males than specimens from other parts of its range.

Doxocopa laurentia cherubina, was reared in order to document its immature stages and behavioral features. A cohort of 22 eggs of D. l. cherubina was bred in captivity in San Pedro, San José on Celtis iguanaea as host plant. The eggs, all larva instars and the pupa were described and measured; the total time from egg laying to butterfly emerging was 58 ± 3 days. The larva of D. l. cherubina, like the other known larvae of the genus, shows a well-developed cryptic pattern on the Celtis host, especially in the third, fourth and fifth instars when the larvae flatten their head (which is green posteriorly) against the leaf surface. The mature larva and the pupa of D. l. cherubina are very similar to those of D. clothilda, D. excelsa, and D. l. laure. Morphological comparison of immature stages were done with the sympatric D. l. laure and photographs of both life cycles are presented. Notes on habitat and ecology are given and data show that this species is present as adults mainly during the rainy season.