Insect Herbivores of

Tabebuia ochracea

 

Current species list:

The herbivore list presented below is an ongoing product of collecting and rearing by Dan Janzen and his Costa Rican assistants in Sector Santa Rosa of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, beginning in 1978 (Janzen, D. H. and Hallwachs, W. 1998 (in prep.). Janzen and Hallwachs Caterpillar Rearing Database. <http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/index.html>. Filemaker Pro 4.0 database accessible through Netscape and other web browsers). This work has been supplemented by focused collecting by Jon Sullivan (jjsulliv@sas.uenn.edu) and Alex Perez from 1995 to 1998. All collecting has been based in the dry forests of Sector Santa Rosa of the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), and most collecting has been restricted to hand-gathering from seedlings and saplings. Dan Janzen's collections of Tabebuia ochracea herbivores are part of his massive rearing project focused on inventorying the macro-lepidopteran larvae of the ACG forests, together with what they eat, and what eats them.

A selection of photos have been included for some species when available . To view a page of photos for a species, click on either the larval or adult reduced photo below. These are not intended to serve as an comprehensive identification guide. A much larger database of photos, which includes most of the species below, is being incorporated into the Janzen and Hallwachs Caterpillar Rearing Database <http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/index.html> (this is also databasing records of non-caterpillar insect herbivores of Tabebuia ochracea). This database can also be consulted for additional information on natural history, phenology, parasitoids,.

Many of the below species still require identification, especially the non-lepidopterans. Future modifications of this page will fill in many of the gaps.

 

 SPECIES  ORDER  FAMILY  SUBFAMILY  PLANT DAMAGE  
Megistops nr. costaricensis  Coleoptera  Chrysomelidae  Alticinae Small holes in expanded leaves  
Akantaka insidiosa  Coleoptera  Chrysomelidae  Cassidinae Skeletonize patches of expanded leaves  
 Unidentified sp.1  Coleoptera  Cuculionidae   Edges of expanded leaves  
 Unidentified sp.2  Coleoptera  Cuculionidae   Edges of expanded leaves  
 Euphoria limatula  Coleoptera  Scarabidae  Cetoniinae Scrape young shoot walls  
 Unknown  Diptera     Larvae feed in groups externally along midrib of expanding leaves- feeding produces twisted expanded leaves  
 Unidentified  Hemiptera  Coreidae   Sucks vascular fluids from young shoot wall  
 Unidentified  Hemiptera  Pentatomidae   Sucks vascular fluids from young shoot wall  
 Unknown  Homoptera  Kermidae?   Sucks vascular fluids from old shoot walls  
 Unknown  Homoptera  Pseudococcidae?    Expanded leaves  
 Atta cephalotes  Hymenoptera  Formicidae   Cotyledons, flowers, sapling leaves  
 Unknown  Hymenoptera     Galls in inner fruit wall  
 Unknown  Hymenoptera     Feed inside leaf rachis  
 Unidentified sp.1  Lepidoptera  Apateloididae    Expanded leaves  
 Unidentifed sp.2  Lepidoptera  Apateloididae    Expanded leaves  
Ecpantheria icasia  Lepidoptera  Arctiidae  Arctiinae  Expanded leaves  
Ecpantheria suffusa  Lepidoptera  Arctiidae  Arctiinae  Expanded leaves  
Phegoptera astur  Lepidoptera  Arctiidae    Expanded leaves  
Syntomeida melanthus  Lepidoptera  Arctiidae  Ctenuchinae  Expanded leaves  
Monochroa sp.  Lepidoptera  Gelechiidae    Young, unexpanded leaves  
Unidentified  Lepidoptera  Geometridae    Expanded leaves  
Hyblaea puera  Lepidoptera  Hyblaeidae    Expanded leaves  
Spodoptera latifascia  Lepidoptera  Noctuidae  Amphipyrinae  Expanded leaves  
Tiracola grandirena  Lepidoptera  Noctuidae      
Eulepte sp.  Lepidoptera  Pyralidae Pyraustinae  Scrapes expanded leaves from within webbing  
 Undescribed  Lepidoptera  Pyralidae  Chrysauginae  Bores down new shoots  
 Unidescribed  Lepidoptera  Pyralidae  Chrysauginae  Mines in seeds of developing fruits  
Automeris tridens  Lepidoptera  Saturniidae  Hemileucinae  Expanded leaves  
Automeris zugana  Lepidoptera  Saturniidae  Hemileucinae  Expanded leaves  
Hylesia lineata  Lepidoptera  Saturniidae  Hemileucinae  Expanded leaves  
Manduca barnesi  Lepidoptera  Sphingidae  Macroglossinae  Expanded leaves  
Manduca dilucida  Lepidoptera  Sphingidae  Macroglossinae  Expanded leaves  
Manduca florestan  Lepidoptera  Sphingidae Macroglossinae  Expanded leaves
Manduca lanuginosa  Lepidoptera  Sphingidae  Macroglossinae  Expanded leaves  
Manduca rustica  Lepidoptera  Sphingidae  Macroglossinae  Expanded leaves  
 Unknown  Orthoptera  Gryllidae    Holes in expanded leaves  

 

Created: 1 November 1998
Last Modified: 1 November 1998

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