Distribution and hostplant records for Eupackardia calleta from southeastern Texas with notes on mandibular morphology of Attacini (Saturniidae)

5 Pages·2000·2.5 MB·English

by  Valerie A Passoa

Journal
of
The Lepidopterists' Society
Volume 53 2000 Number4
JournaloftheLepidopterists'Society
53(4),1999,133-137
DISTRIBUTION AND HOSTPLANT RECORDS FOREUPACKARDIA CALLETA
FROM SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS WITH NOTES ON MANDIBULAR MORPHOLOGYOF
ATTACINI (SATURNIIDAE)
Valerie A. Passoa
10603BrettridgeDrive,Powell,Ohio43065,USA
AND
Steven Passoa1
USDA/APHIS/PPQ,TheOhioStateUniversity,MuseumofBiologicalDiversity, 1315KinnearRoad, Columbus,Ohio43212,USA
ABSTRACT. Eupackardiacalleta(Westwood)isrecordedonprivet(Ligustrum)fromKingwood,Texas.Thisnewcountyrecordrepresents
anortheasternrangeextensionof100milesandconfirmsprivetasahostplantundernaturalconditions.Theroleofthemandibleindigestion
ofthehostplantisdiscussed.
ThelastinstarlarvalmandibleofmostAttacinieitherlacksteethorhasthecuttingedgebluntlyserratedwithreducedteeth.Incontrast,the
distinctivemandibleofE. calletacontainsthreelargeteethanddeepmolarridges,anautapomorphyforthegenus.Well-developedmandibu-
larteetharepresentonthelastinstarofafewunrelatedSaturniinaeandCeratocampinae;thereforethischaracterishomoplasticinSaturni-
idae.Astructurallycomplexmandibleofthe"sphingid-type"occursinseveralsatumiidssuchasAntheraeapernyi(Gu£r.-Men.)(Saturniidae).
Thismandibletypeisillustrated.
TherearetwoontogeneticpatternsofmandibulardevelopmentinSaturniidae. Inonecase,teetharepresentinthefirstinstar,thenlostin
latermolts.ThemandibulardevelopmentofE. calletarepresentsanalternativescenariowhereteetharepresentthroughoutthelarvalstage.
Additionalkeywords: Ligustrum,ontogeneticdevelopment,Sphingidae,Notodontddae.
Eupackardiacalleta (Westwood) is amemberofthe morphology to other Attacini, with emphasis on re-
Attacini, usually considered the sister group to Roth- lated nearctic taxa. Ontogenetic and phylogenetic ob-
schildia (Ferguson 1972, Peigler 1989, Friedlanderet servations are alsoincluded.
al. 1998). This species is distributed from Central
Materialsand Methods
America (Honduras, Guatemala) northtoArizona and
southernTexas (VictoriaCo., Calhoun Co.) (Ferguson In order to survey saturniid mandibles, preserved
1972, Wolfe 1995, Tuskes et al. 1996). The systematics larval specimens or exuviae associated with cocoons
andbiologyofE. calletahavebeenreviewedbyseveral and emerged adults were taken from the authors' col-
authors including Ferguson (1972), Weast (1989), lection and dissected. The mandible was either slide
Miller(1976), Lemaire (1978),andTuskesetal. (1996). mounted in Euperal or preserved in alcohol. For
Weast (1989) suggestedthatsystematicstudies ofE. analysiswithaJ.O.E.L. JSM 820scanningelectronmi-
calleta are needed. Tuskes et al. (1996) illustrated croscope, each samplewas attachedto astubwith car-
threelarvalformsofthe UnitedStatespopulations,but bon paint and coated with a thin conductive layer of
did not study their mandibular morphology. In this gold-palladium. Mandibular terminology is based on
paper we present biological data on E. calleta from Godfrey (1972).
southeastern Texas, then compare the mandibular Material examined: Eupackardia calleta: TEXAS
(variouslocalities, exovafromfemale mothsinlabcul-
1Addresscorrespondencetothisauthor ture): 10 eggs, 10 first instars, 27 second to fourth in-
134 Journalofthe Lepidopterists' Society
Table1. MandibularmorphologyofselectedlateinstarAttacini as an artificial laboratoryhost (Ferguson 1972,Tuskes
larvaeoccurringintheWesternHemisphere.Localitydatadesignate etal. 1996). Oursisthe secondpublishedrecordforE.
sourceofthestudyspecimens.
calleta eating ornamental privet under natural condi-
Source Cuttingedgeofmandible tions, supporting the suggestion ofWeast (1989) that
Callosamiaangulifera (Wlk.) USA Teethreduced,margin privetisanimportanthostplantofthisspeciesnearur-
bluntlyserrate ban areas of Texas. In fact, E. calleta appears to be
Callosamiapromethea (Drury) USA Teeth reduced,margin oligophagous on several generaofOleaceae, including
bluntlyserrate
Callosamiasecurifera(Maas.) USA Teethreduced,margin privet in Texas (present study) and Mexico (Peigler
bluntlyserrate pers. comm.), Fraxinus greggii A. Gray in western
Eupackardiacalleta (Ww.) Texas, Teethpresent,well- Texas (Peiglerpers. comm.), andForestieraangustifo-
Mexico developed
Hyalophoracecropia (L.) USA Teethabsent lia Torrey (Stone 1991). A mature larva of£ . calleta
HyalophoraColumbia USA Teethabsent onprivetfrom Kingwood,Texas, isillustratedin Fig. 1.
Hya(Sl.oIp.hSomriathe)uryalus(Bdv.) USA Teethreduced,margin At maturity, the larva lacks long and dark scoli which
bluntlyserrate are characteristic ofearlierinstars (Fig. 2). In spite of
Hyalophoragloveri (Stkr.) USA Teethreduced,margin the availability ofceniza nearby, E. calleta was found
bluntlyserrate onlyon privetin the seniorauthor's backyard.
Prob.Rothschildiacincta Prob.Baja Teedireduced,margin
(Tepp.) Cali- bluntlyserrate Examination of E. calleta mandibles from Texas
fornia showed thatthese structures are atypical comparedto
Rothschildiaerycina (Shaw) USA Teethreduced,margin other saturniids described in the literature. Bernays
bluntlyserrate
Rothschildiaforbesi Benj. Texas Teethabsent and Janzen (1988) characterized late instar saturniid
Rothschildialebeau Honduras Teethabsent mandibles as "short, with a broad base, and without
(Guer.-Men.)
Rothschildiaorizaba (Ww.) Ecuador Teethreduced,margin obvious teeth". This definition does not fit E. calleta
bluntlyserrate whichhaslargeteeth inboththeearly(Fig. 3) andlast
Samiacynthia(Drury) USA Teethreduced,margin instars (Figs. 4, 5, and 6).
bluntlyserrate Except forE. calleta, members ofthe Attacini typi-
cally lackwell-developed mandibular teeth in the last
instar or have the cutting edge ofthe mandible ser-
stars, 6pupalcases (with larvalexuviae), det. V. A. Pas- ratedwith bluntlobes (Table 1). Mandibularteeth are
soa, mandible slides #581, 582 S. Passoa collection; also absent in mature larvae of two Indo-Australian
Harris Co., Kingwood, XII-1995, on Ligustrum, V. A. Attacini, Attacus atlas (L.) (Heppner et al. 1989) and
Passoa, 6 mature larvae, det. V. A. and S. Passoa, Coscinocera hercules (Miskin) (specimens in Passoa
mandible slide#616 S. Passoacoll. collection).
MEXICO: various localities, collection data un- Ourdataon saturniid mandibles agreewith results
known, 2firstinstars, 18 secondtofourthinstars, 3pu- of a survey of notodontid mandibles published by
pal cases (withlarval exuviae), det. V. A. Passoa; Mich. Godfrey et al. (1989) in several respects. Last instar
[Michoacan], Urupan (sic) [Uruapan], 2-X-1941, coll. mandibles of the Notodontidae usually lack teeth,
[D. M.] Delong, det. V. A. and S. Passoa (1 last instar except for a few apparently unrelated exceptions.
larva with mandibles slide mounted (The Ohio State This is also true in Saturniidae. Outside of the
Universitycollection). Attacini, mature larvae ofActias selene (Hbn.), A.
One to ten mandibularpairs ofeach species (Table luna (L.), Argema mittrei (Guer.- Men.) (Saturni-
1)were examined, dependingon material available. inae) and Citheronia regalis (F) (Ceratocampinae)
(specimens in Passoa collection) have well-devel-
Results and Discussion
oped mandibular teeth, so the presence ofteeth on
DuringNovember 1995,the seniorauthorcollected saturniid mandibles is homoplastic across several
seven thirdinstarlarvae ofE. calleta onprivet {Ligus- subfamilies.
trum) from her backyard in Kingwood, Harris Co., Largeteeth alsooccurintheAntheraea genus com-
Texas. This is a northeastern range extension of ap- plex, forexample,Antheraeapernyi (Guer.- Men.) and
proximately 100 miles (161 km) and a new county its purported synonym A. hartii (Moore), A. polyphe-
record. Itremainstobe determinedifE. calleta isnow nols (Cram.), and Opodiphthera eucalypti (Scott)
establishedin Harris County. (spms. in Passoacoll.). In addition, the mandible ofA.
Tuskes et al. (1996) considered Leucophyllum pernyi is unusual because it matches the "sphingid-
frutescens (ceniza, purple sage) to be the main host- type"as definedbyBernays andJanzen (1988). Sphin-
plant forE. calleta in Texas. Privetis normallytreated gidmandibleswerecharacterizedasbeing"ridgedina
Volume 53, Number4 135
Figs. 4-6. Mandible oflast instar Eupackardia calleta (West-
mm
wood),scaleline= .10 inallfigures.4,oralsurface,ventralview,
Figs. 1-3. Eupackardia calleta (Westwood) from Texas. 1, late 70x. 5,teethanddeepmolarridges,ventralview, 150x. 6,teethon
instarlarvaonprivet(lateralview).2,mid-instarlarvaonprivet(dor- cuttingmargin,dorsalview,95x.
salview). 3, earlyinstar mandible, oral surface, ventral view, pho-
tographsunderpolarizedlight, lOOx.
136 Journalofthe Lepidopterists' Society
variety ofcomplex ways". The mandible ofA. pernyi
(Figs. 7, 8, and9) has aseries ofcomplexridges onthe
dorsalsurfacethatappeartoformoverlappingteeth, in
additionto several smallertoothlikeprojections onthe
oral surface. The mandibles ofE. calleta andA. pernyi
suggestitiswisertocharacterize saturniidmouthparts
with ecological orphysiological criteria (cuttingversus
grinding), instead ofusing aphylogenetic approach at
the family level as did Bernays and Janzen (1988) in
theirstudyofsaturniid and sphingidmandibles.
There appeartobetwoontogeneticpatterns forsat-
urniid mandibles. In one pattern, first instar larval
mandibles have teeth; subsequently these teeth are
lost in later molts. This pattern is typical for Costa Ri-
&
can saturniid species in four subfamilies (Bernays
Janzen 1988). A second pattern is found in E. calleta
whereearlyinstars have mandibularteeth (Fig. 3) that
are retained throughout larval life (Figs. 4, 5, and 6).
This dichotomywas alsonotedbyGodfreyetal. (1989)
innotodontidgenera.
Godfreyet al. (1989) stated that characterization of
certain taxabymandibularmorphologywas "problem-
atical"becausein somespeciesthe mandibularmargin
was intermediate between toothed and smooth. Inter-
mediate conditions are common with Saturniidae, as
showninTable 1 bytheterm "marginbluntlyserrate".
A bluntlyserrated mandible has round conicalprojec-
tions that resemble small teeth, or an irregular man-
dibular margin with indentations. Callosamia is an ex-
ample ofthe first condition where from 10-15 small
teeth coverthe cutting margin ofthe mandible.
Irregular mandibular margins are found in Hyalo-
phora and Rothschildia where it is difficult to discern
teeth, butthe mandibularmarginisnotstraight. Dock-
ter (1993)warnedthat mandibularwearmustbe taken
into account when describing mandibles. It is unclear
whether bluntly serrated teeth in Saturniidae are a
transition state between toothed and smooth man-
dibles, asnotedbyGodfreyetal. (1989) innotodontids,
or instead represent worn mandibular teeth as de-
scribedby Dockter (1993) in Heterocampa and Soura-
kov (1996) in larvae ofsatyridbutterflies. Examination
of unworn mandibles on freshly molted larvae are
neededtoresolvethisquestion. Thus,itmaybeprema-
ture to characterize saturniid mandibles as usually
Figs. 7-9. Mandible of last instar Antheraea pernyi (Guer.- toothless (Bernays &Janzen 1988) until more ontoge-
Men.). 7,complexpatternofteethondorsalandoralsurfaces,ven- netic studies arepublished.
tralview,27x,scaleline= 1 mm. 8,overlappingteethofdorsalsur- In summary, the mandibular shape of Macrolepi-
face,ventralview,33x,scaleline= 1mm.9,toothofdorsalsurface,
ventralview,70x,scaleline= .1mm. dopteradepends onseveralfactors includingheadsize
and food toughness (Bernays 1986), foodparticle size
and chemistry (Bernays & Janzen 1988), the need to
piercethechorionoftheeggateclosion, andaneedto
Volume 53, Number4 137
seal the oral cavity during ingestion (Godfrey et al. Texas. We are grateful to K. S. Johnson (Ohio University, Athens,
1989). Unlike notodontids which use toothed man- Ohio) for Callosamia larvae and pupae, K. L. Wolfe (Escondido,
California)foraR. erycinalarvalexuvium,C.A.Conlan(SanDiego,
dibles to pierce the leafepidermis (Dockter 1993), E. California) forE. calleta pupal cases, M. D. Schmidt (Springboro,
calleta does notskeletonizeleaves duringanyinstar(V. Ohio) for a H. euryalus pupa, and R. S. Peigler for use of his
A. Passoapers. obs.). Therefore, it seems likelythat a OleAatcetaheehTohsetpOlhanitorSetcaotredsU.niversity(Columbus,Ohio),wethank
toothed mandible is required forotherreasons. C. Mitchellforthescanningelectronmicroscopephotographs,D.J.
J.
Bernays andJanzen (1988) noted that larvae which Horn and G. D. Keeneyforgreenhouse space usedto growhost-
feed on toxic plants tend to be associated with plants,andN. F.Johnsonforuseoftheinsectcollection.
mandiblesthatcontain teeth. They(Bernays &Janzen TheVoOuhcihoerStsapteecUinmievenrssiotfyE'.scIanlsleecttaCaonldleitcstihoosntaplnadntHearrbeadreipuoms.itedin
1988) suggested that complete mastication ofthe leaf
tissue allows more complete digestion, a strategy not Literature Cited
possiblewithhostplants containingtanninsthatinhibit Rernays, E.A. 1986. Diet-inducedheadallometryamongfoliage-
digestive efficiency. However, the digestive physiology chewinginsects and its importance forgraminivores. Science
231:495^96.
ofE. calleta maybe more complicatedthan other Sat- Rernays, E. A. & D. H. Janzen. 1988. Saturniid and sphingid
urniidae. Caterpillars ofE. calleta secrete a pungent caterpillars:twowaystoeatleaves.Ecology69:1153-1160.
liquid containing phenolic compounds and biogenic Deml, R. & K. Dettner. 1993. Riogenic amines and phenolics
amines from their scoli when disturbed, but it is un- c(hLaerpaicdtoeprtiezrea:tShaetudrenfieindsaei)v:easceocmreptairoantiovfessattuudyr.niidCocamtper.piPlhlyasr.s
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(Demi& Dettner 1993). Untilthemetabolismandde- Dockter, D. E. 1993. Developmentalchangesandwearoflarval
fensive chemistry ofE. calleta are clarified, it maybe m(aNontdoidbolnetsidaien).HetLeepr.ocSaomc.pa47:g3u2tt^i8v.itta and H. subrotata
J.
premature to assume mandibular teeth are an aid to Ferguson,D.C. 1972. In Dominick,R.B.etal.(eds.),Themoths
coping with plant toxins. Nevertheless, E. calleta lar- ofAmericanorthofMexico. Bombycoidea. Saturniidae. Fasci-
vaeBedsoiduetislitzheetonxeicedplatnotsun(dWeerassttan19d89m)a.ndibular mor- FriecPdleleia2gn0ld.e2e.rr,2&7T5Q..pPp.Q.,.,K2F.a2nRcg.o.lHoor1r9es9dt8p,.isTJ..wCo.nRucelgeiaerr,geCn.esMyiitetledrc,onRc.orS-.
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Mol.Phyl. Evol.9:131-140.
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Lasiocampidae, althoughthese setae are alsoindepen- Godfpraeryt,moGd.ifLi.c,aJt.iSo.nsMiinlllaerrval&NDo.toJd.oCnatritdeare.(L1e9p8i9d.opTtweroa)m:outhtehi-r
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haabssepnotte(nEt.iaclallfeotra)idienntSiafitcuartniioindapeu,rptohsuess.thiMsacnhdairbaucltaerr oMfuTsaeiuwamn4S2a:t8u9r-n9i7l.idae[sic]:Attacusatlas(Linnaeus).J.Taiwan
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(Johnston, Iowa) significantlyimprovedthemanuscript.W. D. Ol-
hausen (JesseJonesParkandNatureCenter, Humble,Texas)pro- Receivedforpublication 11 May1997;revisedandaccepted10De-
vided keen observations concerning E. calleta in Harris County, cember1999.