©EntomologicaFennica.3March2006 The ecology, genitalia and larval morphology of Polythrena coloraria Herrich-Schäffer, 1855 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), with records of its egg parasitoid Telenomus acarnas Kozlov & Kononova, 1977 (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) ReimaLeinonen,NadesdaKutenkova,MattiAhola,JuhaniItämies&VeliVikberg Leinonen,R.,Kutenkova,N.,Ahola,M.,Itämies,J.&Vikberg,V.2006:The ecology, genitalia and larval morphology of Polythrena coloraria Herrich- Schäffer, 1855 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), with records of its egg parasitoid TelenomusacarnasKozlov&Kononova,1977(Hymenoptera:Scelionidae).— Entomol.Fennica17:56–64. Investigationsweremadeuponthebiologyandhabitatdemandsofthelarvaeand adultsofPolythrenacolorariaintheKivachnaturereserveintheRepublicof Karelia,Russia,closetotheeasternborderofFinland.Inthelaboratoryfemales laideggsonlyonRibesnigrum,althoughotherplantswerealsoavailable.Eggs werefoundinthefieldundertheleavesofthisplant,too.Insteadlarvaewerenot foundinthefield.Inthelaboratorytheydidnoteatanyotherplantsoffered.Inad- dition,themaleandfemalegenitaliaandlarvalmorphologyaredescribed.Based on these characteristics, the systematic position of the species is discussed. A parasitoidwaspTelenomusacarnas(Hymenoptera,Scelionidae,Telenominae) isreportedfromtheeggsofP.coloraria.Itseemstobethefirsthostrecordforthis parasitoidwasp. R. Leinonen, Kainuu Regional Environment Centre, P. O. Box 115, FI-87101 Kajaani,Finland;E-mail:[email protected] M. Ahola, Metsänreunantie 27 G, 85900 Reisjärvi, Finland; E-mail: matti @mahola.pp.fi N.Kutenkova,NatureReserveKivach,Kondopoga,186200Karelia,Russia J.Itämies,Zoologicalmuseum,P.O.Box3000,FI-90014UniversityofOulu, Finland;E-mail:[email protected] V. Vikberg, Liinalammintie 11 as. 6, FI-14200 Turenki, Finland; E-mail: [email protected] Received14March,accepted15July2005 1.Introduction byAleksandrGünterinOlonetsprovince(theter- ritory between the lakes Ladoga and Onega) in Polythrena coloraria was first found in Eastern 1859–1896. Blöcker found two specimens ofP. Russian Karelia as early as the mid-1800’s coloraria. Recently, the species was again col- (Günther 1896, Kaisila 1947). Blöcker (1909) lectedintheKivachNatureReserveatadistance was apparently the first to discover the species of30kilometresfromtheoldfinds(Leinonenet whenmakingareviewofthebutterfliescollected al.2003).Inthisconnection,abriefdescription ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 (cid:127) TheecologyandlarvaofPolythrenacoloraria 57 wasgivenonthebiologyandlarvaeofthespe- cies,whichhadpreviouslyremainedmoreorless unknown.Thegeneraldistributionofthespecies issaidtobethenorthernpartsofEuropeanRus- sia, the Urals and the mountains of Siberia (Viidalepp1977). Theaimofthispaperistosummarizetheeco- logy of Polythrena coloraria, to describe the maleandfemalegenitalia,todescribethelarval morphology,andtogivedetailsofaneggparasite ofP.coloraria. 2.Materialandmethods All the observations were made by Nadesda KutenkovaintheKivachNatureReserveinthe Republic of Karelia, Russia, about 120 km east from the Russian/Finnish border. Most of the fieldworkwasdonein2002,andsomeearlierob- servationswereincluded,too.Femaleindividuals weretakenintoalaboratory,wheretheywereob- servedfortheiregglayinghabits;larvalfeeding on different potential food plants was also ob- Fig1.HypopharynxofPolythrenacolorarialarva. served. Larval preparations and drawings were madebyMA(thestudiedmaterialisattheZoo- logicalMuseumofOulu). Genitaliaslideswere madebyJI(#slidenr.1383J.Itämiesand$slide rant.Thelarvaefedbothduringmorningandin nr.1384J.Itämies;incoll.ZoologicalMuseumof eveninghours.–Althoughwefoundthreeeggsin Oulu).Theadultmaterialhasbeendepositedin thefield,wedidnotfindanylarvaethere. the private collections of R. Leinonen and N. Kutenkova and at the Zoological Museum of Oulu. 3.2.Descriptionoflarva The terminology of chaetotaxy follows Hinton 3.Results (1946)andthatofmouthpartsBeck(1999). Morphologyofmouthparts.Hypopharyngeal 3.1.Larvalbiology complexwithaspinneretshorterthanthelabial palps,about2.5timesaslongasbroad,tubular,its Inthelaboratory,femaleslaideggsonlyonblack lowerlipslightlyelongated(Fig.1).Lps1ofthe currant(Ribesnigrum),althoughotherplantstyp- labialpalpusabout2.5timesaslongasbroad,4/5 icaloftheadultsiteswerealsoavailable(seebe- aslongasthespinneret.Lps2andsetaLp1equal low).Thelightopalescenteggs(length0.7mm, in length, seta Lp2 about twice as long as Lp1. breadth0.5mm)werelaidontheundersidesof Distal region of the hypopharynx with sparse, leaves. In thefield, eggs werealso found under rather stout lateral spines but no medial spines. the leaves of food plants. In breeding experi- Transverse cleft absent between the distal and ments, larvae were moved to other plants (e.g. posteriorregions.Proximolaterallobewitharow Aegopodium podagraria, Stellaria nemorum, oflateralteeth.Posteriorpartofthehypopharynx Geumrivale,Athyriumfilix-femina,Filipendula covered with tiny spines. Stipular setae (Fig. 2) ulmaria),buttheyalwaysreturnedtoblackcur- short,aboutaslongasthesetaLp1ofthelabial 58 Leinonenetal. (cid:127) ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 Fig.2.StipularsetaeofPolythrenacolorarialarva. Fig.3.MaxillarypalpiofPolythrenacolorarialarva. Fig.5.LabrumofPolythrenacolorarialarva. Fig.4MandibleofPolythrenacolorarialarva. palps, located in the prementum, distance be- Labral notch sharp with straight edges, the tweenthesetaelongerthanthelengthoftheseta. middle setae forming an acute angel, all lateral Maxillarypalpi(Fig.3)withanelongated3rdseg- setaeratherlong(Fig.5). ment,morethan2timesaslongasbroad,the2nd Chaetotaxy. P1 setae of the head situated at segment slightly longer than broad. Galeal lobe the level of AF2, the distance P2–P2 is lightly absent, three sensilla trichodea present on the shorterthanP1–P1(Fig.6).PositionofsetaeF1 same laciniogaleal lobe with two sensilla stylo- highonfrons,approximatelyatthelevelofA2, conica. Surface of stipes smooth except for the setae A1. A2 and A3 form a triangle. Seta O1 shortandtinyspinesonthelowstipitalsack. closertothe3rdocelli,setaSO2locatedbetween Antennaewitharatherlongsecondsegment, the5thand6thocelli.SetaeD1andD2separated about twice as long as broad, and a rather high onthethorax,D1situatedslightlyinfrontofD2. thirdsegmentwiththreesensillae. SetaSD1stronglyventrocephaladfromSD2on Mandible(Fig.4)withsixteethinthecutting themeso-andmetathorax(Fig7).SetaeSD1and margin,theventraltoothrathersmall,themargin L2hair-likeontheprothorax,setaSD1shortbut ofthedorsaltoothserrated.Innersurfaceofthe notweakinthemeso-andmetathorax.SVsetae mandiblewithtworidges.Twosetaepresenton bisetoseontheprothorax,unisetoseonthemeso- theoutersurface,theonefarthestfromthefront and metathorax. Thoracic microsetae MDX1 of veryshort. theprothoraxandMD1ofthemesothoraxclose ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 (cid:127) TheecologyandlarvaofPolythrenacoloraria 59 Fig.8.Ab2ofPolythrenacolorarialarva. Fig.6.HeadofPolythrenacolorarialarva. together.SetaeD1andD2(Fig.8)farfromeach notformrowsbutarewidelyscattered.Thesetal other in the abdominal segments 1–5, distance distanceD1–D1oftheanalshieldisaboutthree D1–D1onlyslightlyshorterthanthatofD2–D2 timesaslongasthatofD2–D2andsituatedposte- butshorterinthesegments6–9.SetaSD1located riortothelevelSD2–SD2(Fig11). cephaladordorsocephaladfromthespiracleinall Other characteristics. Head and body skin abdominalsegments.TheLgroupofsetaeconsist smooth, anterior abdominal segments with 6 ofthreesetaeintheabdominalsegments1–5and annulets. Thoracic claws with obtuse-angled 8, of four setae in the segments 6–7 and of one notch.Crochetsofventralprolegsbi-ortriordinal seta in segment 9. The SV group of setae is intwogroups,17–18innumber.Larvaeareslen- bisetoseinsegment1,unisetoseinthesegments der,withtheabdominalsegments1–5prolonged 7–9, trisetose in the segments 2–5 and with six andthesegments6–10muchshorter. setaeontheoutersurfaceoftheventralprolegin Habitus. Larva greenish in colour. Black segment6(Figs.9–10).Theabdominalsetaesitu- transverse stripe present on the head running ated below the spiracle of the segments 1–5 do fromthevertextogenaecaudadfromP2andL1 Fig.7.Meso-and metathoraxof Polythrenacoloraria larva. 60 Leinonenetal. (cid:127) ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 Fig.10.Ab6–Ab9ofPolythrenacolorarialarva. Fig.9.ProlegofPolythrenacoloraria larva. Fig.12.Overviewofheadof Polythrenacolorarialarva. Fig.11.Analshieldof Polythrenacolorarialarva. setae(Fig.12).Thoraxalsowithabroadblackish longitudinalstripeonthelevelL3seta. 3.3.Adulthabitats Polythrena coloraria is a day-active moth that makesshortflightsinsunnyweather.Whilesit- tingonleaves,itisclearlyvisible;theadulthas orange-yellowwingswithblackmarks(Fig.13). Whentheweathergetscloudy,themothsrapidly hide.Onceweobservedaswarmingflightaround the crowns of trees at about eight metres. N. Fig.13.AdultofPolythrenacoloraria. Kutenkova has found this species on wings be- tweenthe6thofJuneandthe13thofJuly. ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 (cid:127) TheecologyandlarvaofPolythrenacoloraria 61 Fig.14.Biotopeof Polythrenacoloraria inRussianKarelia. To our knowledge, there are four separate sitesofoccurrenceofthisspeciesaroundKivach. Allofthemareratherclosetoabrooklet.Allsites are dominated by Norwegian spruce (Picea abies) and, regarding the bush layer, black cur- rant.OthercharacteristictreesareTiliacordata, Populustremula,Betulapubescens,Salixcaprea, Alnus incana, Prunus avium and Sorbus aucu- paria.Inthebushlayerthefollowingplantswere abundant: Rubus idaeus, Rosa acicularis, DaphnemezereumandLoniceraxylosteum.The following ground layer plants characterise the sites: Actaea spicata, Polygonatum odoratum, Tussilagofarfara,Geumrivale,Aegopodiumpo- dagraria, Calamagrostis arundinacea, Oxalis acetosella, Filipendula ulmaria, Trollius euro- paeus,ParisquadrifoliaandPyrolamajor.Thus, thepreferredhabitatseemstobealushbrookside Fig.15.MalegenitaliaofPolythrenacoloraria. grove(Fig14). withlonghairs.Juxtasquaredwithsmallround- ishhairy corners.Saccusevenly curved,round- 3.4.Genitalia ish. Female genitalia (Fig. 16). Ostium weak. Male genitalia (Fig. 15). Valva smooth, easily Antrum chitinated. Ductus bursae very short. wrinkled in preparation, roundish, with long Bursaelongate,weakridgesintheupperportion. hairs, costa and sacculus not remarkably thick- Two signums, one elongate narrow chitinous ened or chitinated. Uncus moderate, not very platemoreorlesstwofolded,theotherapocket- long, slender, sharply pointed. Aedeagus rather like chitinous bag. Bursa covered by small thick,equalsthelengthofvalva,withoutanycon- chitinous teeth. Papillae anales short, smooth, spicuouschitinouscornuti, weakshortridgesat hairy.Intheapophysestheposterioresmuchlon- the orifice. Anellus lobes wide, thickly covered gerthantheanteriores. 62 Leinonenetal. (cid:127) ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 Fig.16.Femalegeni- taliaofPolythrena coloraria. 3.5.EggparasitoidTelenomusacarnas T.dalmanni (Ratzeburg) and T.pentatomus Kozlov&Kononova,1977(Hymenoptera: (Thomson),differinhavingalargerbody(body Scelionidae:Telenominae) length1.0–1.1mm). ThreeeggsofP.colorariawerefoundinthewild in Kivach. Asmall black telenomine parasitoid 4.Discussion emergedfromoneegg.Theeggparasitoidrunsin thekeyofKozlov&Kononova(1983)tothege- According to McGuffin (1958), the following nus Telenomus Haliday, 1833 and further to the characteristicsdifferentiatelarvaeofLarentiinae subgenusAholcusKieffer,1913(thefemalehas fromtheothersubfamiliesofGeometridae:Seta eightflagellomeres)andfurthertothespeciesT. L4 absent from the abdominal segments 2–5, (A.) acarnas Kozlov & Kononova, 1977. The body without ridges or tubercles and vestigial specieshasbeendescribedfromtheRussianFar prolegs absent from abdominal segments. The East on the basis of three females (Kozlov & larvaofP.colorariafitswellintothisgroup.The Kononova1977).Intheoriginaldescription,its larvaeofLarentiinaearedividedintotwogroups body length is 0.8–0.9 mm. The female from basedonthepresenceofsixsetaeinthefirstab- Kivachwas0.66mm,withitsforewing0.73mm. dominalsegmentintheL,SVandVgroups.This Body black. Fore wing with long submarginal, is also true of P. coloraria larvae. The tribes of shortmarginalandlongpost-marginalveinsca.2 thisbranchofLarentiinaeareAsthenini,Eudulini times as long as the stigmal vein. Antennae andpartofHydriomenini.Astheninilarvaehave geniculate,10-segmented,insertedlowdownon alongspinneretandanacuteangleofthethoracic theface.Thedistal5segmentsoftheantennaex- claw,bothcharacteristicsthatdonotoccurinP. pandedtoformadistinctclub.Antennaissimilar coloraria. On the contrary, some characteristics tothepictureinKozlov&Kononova(1983:fig- ofEuduliniareclosetoP.coloraria: ure658).Thespecimenisdifferentfromthefe- malesofTelenomus(Aholcus)dalmanni(Ratze- – Larvaelongandslender burg), which have been reared from eggs of – Spinneretshorterthanthelabialpalpi Orgyia antiqua (L.) in Southern Finland. It has – Notchofthethoracicclawsobtuse not been possible to compare the specimen of – Setae of the anterior abdominal segments KivachwiththetypespecimensfromRussianFar scattered East. – Crochetsontheventralprolegintwogroups. MostfemalesoftheTelenomusspecieshave 11-segmented antennae. The other Fennoscan- Thenumberofsegmentalannulets,thecuticleof dian species with 10-segmented antennae, viz. thehead,thearrangementoflabralsetaeandthe ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 (cid:127) TheecologyandlarvaofPolythrenacoloraria 63 bulgingmolarlobeofthemandibleare,however, lobes,whicharemoreprominentinEulithis,and different. these species also have abundant cornuti in Some differential characteristics of Hydrio- aedeagus. Cosmorhoe ocellata, on the other meninicomparedtoEuduliniareclosetoP.colo- hand, has a curved aedeagus. Female genitalia raria: seemtobequitespecificandhardlytobemixed withanyothergeometridmothinthisgroup. – Anteriorabdominalsegmentswithlessthan8 In genus Telenomus, there seems to be very annulets few breeding observations concerning the hosts – Cuticleoftheheadsmooth oftheseparasitoids.Forsius(1915)andVikberg – LabralsetaenotinlinefromsetaM3toL3 (pers. obs.) have reared Telenomus dalmanni – Molarlobeofthemandiblealmostflat. from eggs of Orgyia antiqua (Lepidoptera: Ly- mantriidae).Thepresentobservation,T.acarnas This group of Hydriomenini consists of a few parasitisingtheeggsofP.coloraria,seemstobe genera, including Rheumaptera Hübner, 1822 thefirsthostrecordedforthisparasitoidwasp. and Coryphista Hulst, 1896. Larval shape is, however,different. There are only a few groups on the other References LarentiinaebranchwithsevensetaeintheL,SV and V groups of the first abdominal segment, Beck,H.1999:DieLarvenderEuropäischenNoctuidae. which could resemble the characteristics of P. —Dr.UlfEitschberger,Markleuthen.859pp. Blöcker, G. F. 1909: (Revision of the fauna of Macro- coloraria.ThegenusEulithis(Hübner,1821)is lepidoptera of Olonets province.) — Rus. Entomol. probably the only one because the number of Obozr.9(1):3–13.[InRussian.] setaeonthesideoftheventralprolegisbetween5 Forsius, R. 1915: Om några kläckta parasitsteklar. — and 10, the paraprocts are short, and crochets Medd.Soc.FaunaFloraFennica41:136–138. number16–30. Günther,A.K.1896:ListofLepidopterafoundinOlonets province.—Izv.St.PetersburgBiol.Lab.2.Lepidop- ThespeciesP.colorariaisplacedbetweenthe tera,St.Petersburg,1(3):21–33.[InRussian.] genera Perizoma Hübner, 1825 and Eupithecia Hinton,H.E.1946:Onthehomologyandnomenclatureof Curtis,1825byMikkolaetal.(1985). thesetaeoflepidopterouslarvae,withsomenoteson ThelarvaeofP.colorariadidnotfitexactly phylogeny of the Lepidoptera. — Trans. Ent. Soc. thetribesclassifiedbyMcGuffin(1958).Itsclos- London97:1–35. est relatives could be in the genus Eubaphe Hodges,R.W.(ed.)1983:ChecklistoftheLepidopteraof AmericanorthofMexico.—E.W.Classey,London. Hübner,1823(Hodges1983,Scott2003)ofthe Kaisila,J.1947:DieMacrolepidopterenfaunadesAunus- tribeEudulini. Gebietes.—ActaEnt.Fenn.1:4–112. P. coloraria was earlier assumed to live on Kozlov,M.A.&Kononova,S.V.1977:[Neweggpara- rock meadows, where it occurs among Draco- sitoidsofthesubgenusAholcusKieffer,1913ofgenus cephalum (Mikkola 1985). This plant is rare in Telenomus Haliday, 1833 (Proctotrupoidea, Sceli- onidae)fromtheRussianFarEast.]—Vestn.Zoolog. theKivacharea,asitgrowsatmuchdriersites.In 1:50–57[InRussian.] Kivach,adultmothswereonly seenatvery hu- Kozlov,M.A.&Kononova,S.V.1983:[Thetelenomine mid sites in brookside groves, which led us to species(Hymenoptera,Scelionidae,Telenominae)of seek the food plant among the plants typical of thefaunaoftheU.S.S.R.]—OpredeliteliPoFaune thatkindofhabitat.Laboratoryobservationsver- SSSR136:1–336.[InRussian.] Leinonen, R., Kutenkova, N., Ahola, M. Vikberg, V. & ifiedthefoodplanttobeblackcurrant.Theday- Itämies,J.2003:Polythrenacoloraria(Lepidoptera, time activity of adult moths was already de- Geometridae),apearlamongthegeometridmothsof scribed by Seitz (1915), based on observations Eastern Russian Karelia. — Baptria 3: 25–27. [In madeatAltaiandeasternSiberia. FinnishwithEnglishsummary.] P.colorariaisdepositedbetweenthegenera McGuffin,W.C.1958:LarvaeoftheNearcticLarentiinae ofEulithisandCosmorhoe(Viidalepp1996).The (Lepidoptera:Geometridae).—TheCanadianEnto- mologistSuppl.8. malegenitaliaagreewellwiththegeneralappear- Mikkola,K.,Jalas,I.&Peltonen,O.1985:Suomenper- ance in this group(e.g. Pierce 1967). They are hoset.Mittarit1.—SuomenPerhostutkijainSeura.[In easilydifferentiatedfromEulithisbytheanellus Finnish.] 64 Leinonenetal. (cid:127) ENTOMOL.FENNICAVol.17 Pierce,F.N.1967:TheGenitaliaoftheGroupGeometri- ml.[Accessdate21February2003.] dae of the Lepidoptera of the British Isles. E. W. Viidalepp,J.1977:AlistofGeometridae(Lepidoptera)of ClasseyLtd.,Hampton,Middlessex,England.84pp+ theUSSR.Communication2.—EntomologicalRe- 52plates. view56(3):53–63. Seitz,A.1915:DieGrosschmetterlingederErde.IV.Geo- metraePalearcticae.—Stuttgart.479pp. Viidalepp,J.1996:ChecklistoftheGeometridae(Lepi- Scott, L. 2003: Lynn Scott’s Lepidoptera Images. — doptera) of the former U.S.S.R. — Apollo Books, wysiwyg://30/http://heiconsulting.com/dls/07440.ht Stenstrup.