Eloria subapicalis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Lymantriinae): rare and specialist species on Erythroxylum (Erythroxylaceae) in the cerrado

• Autor(a) principal: Diniz,Ivone R
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Lepesqueur,Cintia, Milhomen,Michelle S, Bandeira,Fabiana C. S, Morais,Helena C
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Zoologia (Curitiba. Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702011000100009
• topic: Abundance; diet specificity; folivorous caterpillar; host plants; moths

Eloria subapicalis (Walker, 1855) is a rare species (61 individuals in four years of samplings) of Noctuidae (Lymantriinae) with a specific diet consisting of leaves of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erytroxylaceae) species in Brasilia's cerrado. Generally, the rarity of a caterpillar species may have many explanations such as a generalist diet, being restricted to a host plant that is scarce in the area, or occurring in a limited geographical area. However, all the above explanations do not apply to E. subapicalis because it shows specificity of diet, uses a common host plant in the cerrado areas, and has a large geographical distribution.