Alexandre Specht

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) | Embrapa · Embrapa Cerrados

The owlet moth group of Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) includes several significantly important pest species that cause severe defoliation or can act as borers of the reproductive structures of plants (pods, cotton bolls, corn ears). The descriptions of the microstructures and scanning electron photographs of the eggs of Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner (Ere...

Given its culinary importance and high market value, the cultivation of Vanilla (Orchidaceae) has been expanding annually in Brazil. As observed in many crops, the increase in cultivated areas leads to a greater incidence of insects associated with species of this genus. This study reports the herbivory of larvae from Cremna thasus (Stoll, 1780) (P...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian mega...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian mega...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian mega...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classification. In this context, the B Brazilian meg...

The reduced temporal validity of species lists made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent the up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. The Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB), made publ...

The subgenus Anicla, commonly known as green cutworms, harbours some of the owlet moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuinae), whose larvae are notable for their economic importance. Knowledge of the immature stages for this group is available for three of the nine described species. Anicla infecta Ochsenheimer, 1816 is widely distributed in the Americas and is...

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: se ng the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker, 1858) is an economically relevant polyphagous moth, widely distributed in the Neotropics and part of the Spodoptera latifascia (Walker, 1856) species group. In this study, we used extensive sampling from different regions to describe the spatial distribution of S. cosmioides in Brazil and evaluate its variability both...

We report for the first time Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker, 1858) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae feeding on leaves and causing injuries of up to 50% in hop plants, in the experimental field of the Center for Agroveterinary Sciences, State University of Santa Catarina, municipality of Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil. This study shows the association...

You can download this work for FREE from the following link (until March 13, 2024)!!!!: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1iTnPA7vO-OKW <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Agrotis Ochsenheimer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a widespread, cosmopolitan genus, with 20 species occurring in South America. Two of those species a...

Esta segunda edição segue a mesma linha da primeira, dando base para o incremento do conhecimento científico relativo à entomologia brasileira nos seus mais diversos aspectos, com informações gerais sobre morfologia, biologia, classificações, relações filogenéticas, importância agrícola, médica, veterinária, métodos de coletas e chaves de identific...

Lasiocampidae belongs to superfamily Lasiocampoidea and contains more than a thousand species nearly distributed worldwide. Despite the great species richness and wide distribution, this group has internal phylogenetic relationships still little explored and with few studies on the morphology and biology of its immatures. This study describes the i...

The velvetbean caterpillar Anticarsia gemmatalis (VBC) is widely distributed in the Americas and causes severe damage to soybean foliage. This insect presents high ecological plasticity, a feature that is of great importance to understand its genetic diversity and potential gene flow to assist in resistance management strategies. With this objectiv...

Chickpea is a commercially exploited crop on a relatively new scale in Brazil, that is why, little information on the main pests is available. Mostly caterpillars showing Heliothinae morphological characteristics have emerged in production areas. In order to point out the species of these insects in chickpea fields produced in the Federal District...

The genus Mythimna Ochsenheimer, 1816 groups aproximatelly 270 species worldwide. This genus is subdivided into many subgenera and species-groups, with those species occurring in the Neotropical region included in the subgenus Mythimna (Pseudaletia) Franclemont, 1951. Species of this subgenus frequently reach high population levels, causing economi...

During a recent survey of leaf-mining microlepidoptera in the Cerrado biome, mines of an undescribed Porphyrosela Braun (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Lithocolletinae) were found associated with the forage peanut, Arachis pintoi Krapov. & W.C. Greg. (Fabaceae). Consequently, adults, immature stages and the leaf mine of Porphyrosela arachisella sp. n...

Invasive pest species can represent significant losses to the agricultural economy of a country. Assessing the potential distribution of known pest species could be an important tool to evaluate possible invasive threats globally. Agrotis robusta (Blan-chard) is an endemic species of temperate areas of South America considered an important pest of...

Population dynamics studies make it possible to predict the response of species to seasonal and inter‐annual climatic phenomena in hypothetical scenarios of climatic abnormality. However, long‐term studies on the temporal distribution and abundances of species are still scarce in the literature, including for species of agricultural importance. The...

This datasheet on Spodoptera eridania covers Identity, Overview, Distribution, Dispersal, Hosts/Species Affected, Diagnosis, Biology & Ecology, Environmental Requirements, Natural Enemies, Impacts, Prevention/Control, Further Information.

In South America, especially in Brazil, four members of the Spodoptera complex, Spodoptera albula (Walker, 1857), S. cosmioides (Walker, 1858), S. eridania (Stoll, 1782), and S. frugiperda (J.E. Smith, 1797) are important pests of many crops, in particular corn, soybean and cotton crops. Spodoptera eridania and S. frugiperda have recently invaded A...

BACKGROUND The invasion of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) into the New World has made it possible for this pest to hybridize with a native American species, H. zea (Boddie), under natural conditions. We investigated the viability and development of hybrids of these two Helicoverpa species. We reared the parental species and...

Chysodeixis includens (Walker) is a polyphagous economic pest in agricultural landscapes. To detect the occurrence of this pest in the field, trapping using sex pheromone lures is often implemented. However, other plusiine species are cross-attracted to these lures and may be misidentified as C. includens due to their morphological similarities. Th...

Information on the cutworm Praina temperata (Schaus, 1894) is restricted to data obtained from adults and two larval host plants. Based on a data set of systematized collections in different locations in Brazil and laboratory rearing using different host plants and artificial diet, new data are presented on the spatio-temporal distribution, morphol...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a natural host for the Helicoverpa-Chloridea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae) pest complex. The species Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) was responsible for significant yield losses in several crops after its detection in Brazil. The morphology of its larval stage resembles common Heliothinae species, making pe...

The first detection of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil pointed to a gloomy future for South American agriculture in the 2012/2013 harvest, and insecticide sales increased exponentially during 2013 and 2014. However, after this outbreak, the population of this insect returned to manageable levels. This study document...

Mocis latipes (Guenée, 1852) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) has been recognized as a major owlet caterpillar associated to the herbivory of gramineaceous plants across the American continent. During outbreaks, the caterpillars are capable of completely consuming preferred hosts (grasses) and, when these hosts are destroyed, they can move to adjacent non-g...

Studies have reported the presence of certain Plusiinae species in both natural and agricultural landscapes, but their turnover in association with agricultural activities remains unexplored. Aiming to understand how the assemblages of Plusiinae are structured by agricultural occupation and climate, this study used automated light traps sampled mot...

ABSTRACT Coleoptera order in Brazil presents 105 families with approximately 28,000 species. The life cycle and diversity of Coleoptera are strongly influenced by climate and vegetation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the seasonality and distribution of Coleoptera families in an area of the Cerrado in the Federal District (DF) of Brazi...

Freely available from the journal's web, please follow DOI link to download the article. Accurate identification of species is fundamental to every biological research. While morphological identification is a time-consuming and skilled technique, straightforward molecular techniques require the availability of a database of previously sequenced an...

Feltia subterranea (Fabricius), commonly known as the granulate cutworm, is a common species of owlet moths (Noctuidae) of major agricultural importance, widely distributed in Nearctic and Neotropical regions. This study was conducted to determine the species biological parameters, gather information about its larval host plants, and assess the agr...

The present study reports Chilomima clarkei (Amsel) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) infesting stems of Manihot esculenta Crantz (Euphorbiaceae) in Amapá state, Brazil, for the first time. Considering the importance of this species as a pest, it is necessary to publicize its occurrence and provide information about the main symptoms of the attacked plants...

The taxonomy of five South American species of Dargida Walker currently allocated in Leucania Ochsenheimer (four species) and in Lasionycta Aurivillius (one species) is revised. Leucania roseilinea (Köhler, 1947), Leucania phaeoneura Hampson, 1913, Leucania mocoides Dognin, 1897, Leucania alboradiata (Hampson, 1905) and Lasionycta radiata (Köhler,...

Peridroma saucia (Hübner, [1808]) or ‘variegated cutworm’ is a cosmopolitan owlet moth pest resilient and abundant in agroecosystems. However, the morphology of their immatures is only briefly described, and information from distinct life stages is fragmentary. This study describes in detail all immature stages of the species based on a Neotropical...

Helicoverpa armigera is a pest of several crops causing significant economic impact. We evaluated the insect development on different vegetative and reproductive structures of cotton, maize, and soybean compared to artificial diet. One hundred individuals were evaluated per structure (cotton leaves and bolls; maize leaves, grains, and silk; soybean...

Elio Corseuil (20/07/1930-26/07/2020)

Hybridization between invasive and native species has raised global concern, given the dramatic increase in species range shifts and pest outbreaks due to anthropogenic dispersal. Nevertheless, secondary contact between sister lineages of local and invasive species provides a natural laboratory to understand the factors that determine introgression...

Aiming to evaluate the effects of Solanum sisymbriifolium extracts on the development of Spodoptera frugiperda, a leaf dichloromethane extract was obtained and subjected to further purification following a bioguided methodology. The structure of the two main compounds isolated from S. sisymbriifolium Type IV glandular trichomes have been completely...

Automated species identification based on data produced with metabarcoding offers an alternative for assessing biodiversity of bulk insect samples obtained with traps. We used a standard two-step PCR approach to amplify a 313 bp fragment of the barcoding region of the mitochondrial COI gene. The PCR products were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq plat...

The rivorum species-group of the genus Leucania (Noctuidae: Noctuinae: Leucaniini) is circumscribed and taxonomically revised, with the inclusion of three species. New taxonomic hypotheses were achieved through the morphological analysis of about 250 specimens allied to the type material of L. rivorum Guenée, 1852; L. pampa Schaus, 1894, stat. rev....

Hybridization between invasive and native species has raised global concern given the dramatic increase in species range shifts and pest outbreaks due to climate change, development of suitable agroecosystems, and anthropogenic dispersal. Nevertheless, secondary contact between sister lineages of local and invasive species provides a natural labora...

Brazil is considered the center of origin and diversity of passifloras. These species have a great importance to in natura fruits consumption, industrialization, medicinal use and also as ornamental plants. The different Passiflora speciesare host of a great diversity of arthropods that can cause injuries, economic damages and, in some situations,...

Larvae of many-plumed moths (Alucitidae), especially in the world-wide genus Alucita Linnaeus, 1758 are known as borers or gall-inducers on flowers, fruits and shoots of a few dicotyledonous families, including Bignoniaceae, Caprifoliaceae and Rubiaceae. However, there is no study available on the biology of the monotypic, Neotropical genus Prymnot...

Striacosta albicosta is a crop pest that causes economic damage in the United States and Canada. Only maize and dry beans are shown to be suitable hosts, since larval development is incomplete on other hosts. The objective of this study was to describe the developmental parameters of immature stages of S. albicosta feeding on dry beans, non-Bt, Cry...

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a native to the Americas and recently reported in Africa, Germany, the Netherlands and India, is a significant pest of many crop species. Although a widespread and important pest, information on its biology and development are incomplete and require detailed stud...

The owlet moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Anicla infecta (Ochsenheimer 1816), Elaphria agrotina (Guenée 1852) and Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith 1797) occur in the entire American continent. These polyphagous moths have a preference for grasses, and have different biological habits. In this study, the populations of these three species were evalu...

Mythimna (Pseudaletia) sequax Franclemont, 1951 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidade) is the most important armyworm in the American tropics and subtropics. In this study, we describe the external morphology of the immatures and adults, based on larvae fed on quicuio grass (Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. ex Chiov - Poaceae). The external morphology of the egg...

Loopers such as Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), Rachiplusia nu (Guenée), and Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) are important defoliators in soybean, sunflower, and crucifer crops, respectively, in countries of the Americas. The biotic potential of these polyphagous species of Plusiinae was comparatively examined considering crop rotation and succession sce...

Striacosta albicosta (Smith) is a key pest of maize and dry beans in North America. It has expanded its distribution from the western Great Plains of the United States to the Great Lakes region in the United States and Canada. There has been limited research on the baseline biological aspects of this insect under controlled conditions. The objectiv...

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith, 1797), is the most important noctuid pest in the Americas and has recently become an invasive pest in Africa and in India. Having a detailed and standardized record of the biology and the larval development of S. frugiperda will be critical to further studies on integrated pest management, toxi...

Every year the area of transgenic maize planting in Brazil expands, however, our knowledge of the fauna of herbivorous insects associated with this genetically modified crop is restricted. In this work we report for the first time the occurrence of Leucania rawlinsi Adams, 2001 and L. senescens (Möschler, 1890) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil wi...

The crimson speckled moth, Utetheisa pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758), is recorded in Brazilian Amazon for the first time. A moth (male) was collected with light trap in a multiple cropping area, in Mojuí dos Campos municipality, Pará State, Brazil. This record expands the area of occurrence and distribution of this rare species in the Neotropical Region...

Feltia llanoi (Köhler, 1953) stat. rev. and its hitherto senior subjective synonym Feltia brachystria (Hampson, 1903) are two species of noctuid moths with unusual broadly bipectinate antenna and restricted distribution in central eastern Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay. Examination of the type of specimens and further material from several...

In this study we confirmed former records of Autographa gamma in South America by examining four individuals collected in different locations of Brazil and Uruguay. Species identity was established by examining male and female genitalia morphology. Some, but not all, location records are in the vicinity of cities with large seaports used for commer...

Spodoptera marima (Schaus, 1904) and Spodoptera ornithogalli (Guenée, 1852) are noctuid moths recognized for their economic importance in the New World. Historically, they have been considered cryptic species, being supposedly differentiated from each other by the absence of sexual dimorphism in S. marima, subtle differences in coloration on the hi...

The phenological patterns exhibited by different organisms are known as adaptive responses to the cyclical environmental conditions. However, only a limited number of researches explore which factors are responsible for these phenological patterns in pest species. In the current study, abundance patterns were studied in the phenology of three Spodo...

In this study we evaluate the biotic potential and reproductive parameters of Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker, 1858) under controlled conditions (25 ± 1 °C, 70 ± 10% RH and 14 hour photophase). Females, on average, (14.433 days) did not live significantly longer than their male counterparts (13.100 days). The mean durations of the pre-oviposition, ov...

The use of GMO expressing Bt toxin in soybean production has increased significantly in the last years in Brazil in order to manage the damage caused by lepidopteran pests. In this study, we compared the richness and abundance of owlet moths (Noctuoidea) associated with Bt and non-Bt soybean. We determined the temporal variations as a function of p...

Feltia submontana (Köhler, 1961) is redescribed based on specimens fromNorthwestern Argentina and Central and Southeastern Brazil. Taxonomiccomments, photographs of the adults, characters of taxonomic impor-tance, and illustrations of structures of the labial palpus, legs, and maleand female genitalia are provided. The species is compared with simi...

Given the increasing importance of Elaphria agrotina (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in corn crops, especially in the Brazilian Savannah biome, the present research aimed to study its development and survival on Greene’s and Poitout & Bues’s artificial diets (25±1°C, 70±10% relative humidity [RH] and 12h photophase). Poitout & Bues’s diet was mor...