Revised status of Chloridea Duncan and (Westwood), 1841, for the Heliothis virescens species group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae) based on morphology and three genes. (28th March 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: POGUE, MICHAEL G.
• Is Part Of: Systematic entomology. Volume 38:Number 3(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 523
• Page End: 542
• Publication Date: 2013-03-28
• Subjects: Insects -- Classification -- Periodicals; Entomology -- Periodicals; 595.7012
• DOI: 10.1111/syen.12010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0307-6970

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The Heliothinae comprise some of the world's most injurious agricultural pests. This study reanalyses a subsample of the <italic>Heliothis</italic> group to determine the monophyly of <italic>Chloridea</italic> (<italic>Heliothis virescens</italic> and <italic>H. subflexa</italic>). Two nuclear gene regions, <italic>elongation factor‐1α</italic> (<italic>EF‐1α</italic>; 1240 bp) and <italic>dopa decarboylase</italic> (<italic>DDC</italic>; 687 bp), and the barcoding region of mitochondrial <italic>cytochrome oxidase I</italic> (<italic>COI</italic>; 708 bp) were used in this analysis for a total of 2635 bp and a morphological dataset of 20 characters and 62 character states. Sixteen species representing five genera plus two outgroup species were used in the analysis. Analyses used were Maximum Parsimony (MP), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI). The revised status for the monophyletic genus <italic>Chloridea</italic> Duncan and (Westwood) was supported by a very strong bootstrap support (BP = 98–100). Larval host‐plant usage is discussed within the <italic>Heliothis</italic> clade. Polyphagy is most likely the ancestral condition with a host shift to monophagy and oligophagy. Based on known larval hosts, <italic>Heliocheilus</italic> is oligophagous on Poaceae. Traits of host plant use in <italic>Helicoverpa</italic> and <italic>Chloridea</italic> where both polyphagy and oligophagy occur in closely related species are discussed.</p> </abstract>