A new and unusual host plant record for the rare moth Lasionycta wyatti (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Authors

  • Joanna Dojillo-Mooney Department of Botany and Faculty of Agricultural Sciences University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
  • Murray B. Isman Department of Botany and Faculty of Agricultural Sciences University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
  • G. H. Neil Towers Department of Botany and Faculty of Agricultural Sciences University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Abstract

Moths reared from larvae collected from sand around the bases of silver burweed (Ambrosia chamissonis [Less.] Greene) at Tsawwassen, BC were identified as the rare noctuid Lasionycta wyatti (Barnes & Benjamin) Thiarubrines, toxic secondary compounds produced by A. chamissonis, are well tolerated by these larvae. This constitutes a new host plant record for the species.

Keywords: Lasionycta; Ambrosia; thiarubrines; insect-plant chemical interaction

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