Table Of Content©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
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dae of the Lepidoptera of the British Isles. E. W.
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ClasseyLtd.,Hampton,Middlessex,England.84pp+
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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,
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