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Issue: Vol. 2656 No. 1: 25 Oct. 2010
Type: Articles
Published: 2010-10-25
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2656.1.2
Page range: 41–54
Abstract views: 40
PDF downloaded: 18

Descriptions of life-stages of Blastobasis repartella (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Coleophoridae: Blastobasinae) and observations on its biology in switchgrass

Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, P. O. Box 37012, NHB - E519, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, USA
Insect Research Collection, Box 2207A, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Plant Science Department, Box 2140C, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Panhandle Research and Extension Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 4502 Ave I Scottsbluff, NE 69361, USA
6148 Agail Place, Columbia, MD 21045, USA
Lepidoptera biofuel biomass Blastobasinae chaetotaxy Coleophoridae energy Gramineae life stages Panicum Poaceae stem-borer switchgrass

Abstract

Blastobasis repartella (Dietz) is a borer in the proaxis and basal nodes and internodes of above ground stems of Panicum virgatum L. (Poaceae). The adult and immature stages are described herein, including diagnoses of the adult and larva, as this insect may be easily confused with a closely related grass-feeding congener, Blastobasis graminea Adamski, which is also known to occur in the United States. The biology of B. repartella is described. Figures of the adult, illustrations of the male and female genitalia, wing venation, the chaetotaxy of the larva (supplemented with scanning electron micrographs), and pupa are provided. Bassus difficilis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is reported as a larval/pupal parasitoid of B. repartella. A new host record for Aethes spartinana (Barnes & McDunnough) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is also reported.

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