Short-term effects of a high-severity summer wildfire on conifer forest moth (Lepidoptera) communities in New Mexico, USA.

Forest fires in North America are becoming larger in area and burning with higher severity as a result of climate change and land management practices. High-severity, stand-replacement fires can inflict major changes to forest insect communities, potentially extirpating many species through altered post-fire habitat resources. We assessed forest-dwelling macrolepidopteran moth communities in mixed conifer and ponderosa pine forests during the first year after the 2011 Las Conchas fire in New Mexico, USA.

The Disphragis notabilis (Schaus) species-group in Costa Rica (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae).

The four described taxa in the Disphragis notabilis (Schaus) species-group are reviewed, including the types and their dissected genitalia. Disphragis hemicera (Schaus), stat. rev.

A new species of Gadirtha Walker (Nolidae, Eligminae): a proposed biological control agent of Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) (Euphorbiaceae) in the United States.

Gadirtha fusca sp. n., is described from Guangxi Province, China.

A review of the Paectes arcigera species complex (Guenée) (Lepidoptera, Euteliidae).

Five new species of Paectes Hübner [1818] related to Paectes arcigera (Guenée) (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St.

A review of the genus Ogdoconta Butler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Condicinae, Condicini) from North America north of Mexico with descriptions of three new species.

The species of the genus Ogdoconta Butler, 1891 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Condicinae, Condicini) from North America north of Mexico are reviewed, and a description of the genus is given. Ogdoconta satana Metzler, Knudson & Poole, sp. n.

A revision of the Schinia volupia (Fitch) species complex (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae).

DNA barcode analysis of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) could not differentiate between the species of the Schinia volupia (Fitch, 1868) complex including S. volupia, S. masoni Smith, S.

Towards a global barcode library for Lymantria (Lepidoptera: Lymantriinae) tussock moths of biosecurity concern.

Background: Detecting and controlling the movements of invasive species, such as insect pests, relies upon rapid and accurate species identification in order to initiate containment procedures by the appropriate authorities. Many species in the tussock moth genus Lymantria are significant forestry pests, including the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar L., and consequently have been a focus for the development of molecular diagnostic tools to assist in identifying species and source populations.

A new species of Schinia Hübner from the southeastern United States (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Heliothinae).

Schinia psamatheasp. n. is described from the southern coastal plain in Georgia and the East Gulf coastal plain in Florida and Alabama in habitats associated with sandy soil or dunes.

CHARACTER DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTER STATE DELINEATION: THE BETE NOIRE OF PHYLOGENETIC INFERENCE.

Abstract- Currently characters are static concepts whose definition and state delineations seldom undergo any scrutiny. Common systematic practice tends to synthesize character slates by combining or dividing observed conditions, a situation most likely due to current theoretical limitations in phylogenetic inference, which tends to ignore problems of multistate characters. This process we refer to as the "synthetic" method for character definition.