Matthias Nuss

Senckenberg Research Institute · Museum of Zoology Dresden

(English abstract below) Einheimische Gehölzarten spielen eine herausragende Rolle für die Erhaltung der einheimischen Insektenfauna. Von 8.127 geprüften, weitest gehend phytophagen (pflanzenfressenden), in Deutschland vorkommenden Blattkäfern, Prachtkäfern, Rüsselkäfern, Pflanzenwespen, Schmet terlingen, Wanzen, Wildbienen und Zikaden sind 3.140 A...

(English abstract below) Einheimische Gehölzarten spielen eine herausragende Rolle für die Erhaltung der einheimischen Insektenfauna. Von 8.127 geprüften, weitest gehend phytophagen (pflanzenfressenden), in Deutschland vorkommenden Blattkäfern, Prachtkäfern, Rüsselkäfern, Pflanzenwespen, Schmet terlingen, Wanzen, Wildbienen und Zikaden sind 3.140 A...

The identity of Syllepte Hübner, 1819–21 is revised by designating a neotype from Neomabra Dognin, 1905, rev. syn., for the type species S. incomptalis Hübner, 1819–21 because the original type material is lost, and we consider it to be congeneric with Syllepte. We redescribe Syllepte based on S. incomptalis and S. nitidalis (Dognin, 1905), rev. co...

Am 25. März 2022 verstarb in seinem 65. lebensjahr der Dipterologe Uwe Kallweit (19.09.1957–25.03.2022). Der Arbeitskreis Diptera und seine Kolleginnen und Kollegen der Senckenberg Naturhistorischen Sammlungen Dresden werden den Verstorbenen in ehrendem Gedenken behalten.

Land-use change has been identified as key driver of insect biodiversity loss worldwide. In central Europe, agricultural intensification resulted in habitat loss and degradation and in homogenization of agricultural landscapes. In addition, the widespread use of agrochemicals, such as herbicides or insecticides, is known to have direct negative eff...

Within the citizen science project “Flowering meadows for Saxonian butterflies”, more than 640 meadows are partially and at maximum three times annually mowed in order to change urban lawns into habitats for insects. In 2019, insect diversity was evaluated using the 100 sweep net technique during five visits at nine butterfly meadows (BM) and nine...

Motivations and the organisational frame for volunteering in citizen science projects remain understudied. This study applied a new measurement inventory called Motivational and ORganisational Functions of voluntary ENgagement in Citizen Science (MORFEN-CS), by which established findings of psychology on volunteering in social situations were trans...

Zusammenfassung. In den Jahren 2020 und 2021 wurde an 22 Standorten in Dresden und Umgebung an 32 Abenden die Aktivität leuchtender und fliegender Glühwürmchen-männchen (Lamprohiza splendidula) von 22:00 bis 23:00 Uhr mitteleuropäischer Som-merzeit (MESZ) quantitativ erfasst. An einigen Abenden begann die Beobachtung bereits um 21:50 Uhr oder endet...

Identification of pyraloid species is often hampered by highly similar external morphology requiring microscopic dissection of genitalia. This becomes especially obvious when mass samples from ecological studies or insect monitoring have to be analysed. DNA barcode sequences could accelerate identification, but are not available for most pyraloid s...

Crambidae is a group of moths with more than 10,000 species occurring worldwide that evolved diverse morphological and ecological habits. They can be best recognized by morphological characters of the adult tympanal organ and larval chaetotaxy. We present the first molecular phylogeny of Crambidae including all subfamilies and most tribes. We use a...

The New Zealand fauna of snout moths (Pyraloidea) predominantly consists of endemic species. During 2017 and 2018, 56 species of Pyraloidea in 1,749 individuals were collected at 14 localities. All species were screened for Wolbachia -infection, with specimens of eight species (14%) being positive, of which six species belong to Scopariinae. This i...

Hoploscopa Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is a fern-feeding genus found in montane areas of South-East Asia and Melanesia, eastwards up to the Samoan Islands. It includes sixteen described species, with at least 70 further undescribed species known from scientific collections. An iterative approach including morphological and molecular characters...

Crambinae (2047 spp.) and Scopariinae (577 spp.) are two major groups of pyraloid moths with a worldwide distribution. Their larvae feed predominantly on Poales and Bryophyta, with many cereal crop pests. We present the first molecular phylogeny of the two groups based on five nuclear genes and one mitochondrial gene (total = 4713 bp) sampled for 5...

In a recent paper in ZooKeys, Wiemers et al. (2018) provided an updated list of European butterfly names. In this list the authors follow gender agreement for species names, when interpreted as adjectival in derivation, in contrast to the common practice among most lepidopterists. Here we comment on this aspect of the paper, and voice our concern t...

Spilomelinae and Pyraustinae form a species-rich monophylum of Crambidae (snout moths). Morphological distinction of the two groups has been difficult in the past, and the morphologically heterogenous Spilomelinae has not been broadly accepted as a natural group due to the lack of convincing apomorphies. In order to investigate potential apomorphic...

Quantitative recording of insects on butterfly meadows. – The project Flowering meadows for Saxonian butterflies („Blühende Wiesen für Sachsens Schmetterlinge“) is running since 2015. Within this project, urban green spaces are being mowed at maximum three times per year, every time leaving 10–30 % unmowed. In order to evaluate whether insects are...

The analysis of mitochondrial COI data for the European-Centroasian montane Udea alpinalis species group finds deep intraspecific splits. Specimens of U. austriacalis and U. rhododendronalis separate into several biogeographical groups. These allopatric groups are not recovered in the analyses of the two nuclear markers wingless and Elongation fact...

From 2013–2017, we accompanied and interviewed local people harvesting edible insects in the Northern Angolan province of Uíge. Insect and host plant samples were collected for species identification and nutritive analyses. Additionally, live caterpillars were taken to feed and keep until pupation and eclosion of the imago, necessary for morphologi...

Zusammenfassung: Das Verzeichnis der Schmetterlinge Deutschlands (2. Auflage) enthält 3682 Arten, die aus Deutschland sicher nachgewiesen sind. Das Vorkommen der Arten in den einzelnen Bundesländern wird in vier Zeitstufen angegeben: Nachweise bis 1900; Nachweise 1901-1980; Nachweise 1981-2000; Nachweise 2001-2016. Die Verbreitungstabelle wird erg...

We report the discovery of Hoploscopini larvae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae: Heliothelinae) on ferns at the southern slopes of Mount Kinabalu (Sabah, Borneo). The COI barcode of the larvae assigns them to the genus Hoploscopa. We provide the first detailed description of the larval stage for this tribe. Among Crambidae, these larvae are most similar to...

DNA barcode data reveal a distinct group of Udea specimens collected on Crete and previously misidentified as Udea fulvalis (Hübner, 1809) and U. languidalis ab. veneralis (Staudinger, 1870). Morphological examination of the specimens corroborates their status as a distinct species which is described as Udea ruckdescheli sp. n. Images of the adults...

Pollination success of highly specialised flowers is susceptible to fluctuations of the pollinator fauna. Mediterranean Aristolochia rotunda has deceptive trap flowers exhibiting a highly specialised pollination system. The sole pollinators are kleptoparasitic flies in search of food. This study investigates these pollinators on a spatio‐temporal s...

With about 4,000 species, Spilomelinae are the most speciose subgroup of snout moths (Pyraloidea) and contain many species of economic importance , including invasive pests. Yet, the monophyly of the group as such is still in doubt as Spilomelinae are largely defined by ambiguous and absence characters and have repeatedly been claimed to be polyphy...

The larvae of the Old World genera Leucinodes Guenée, 1854 and Sceliodes Guenée, 1854 are internal feeders in the fruits of Solanaceae, causing economic damage to cultivated plants like Solanum melongena and S. aethiopicum. In sub-Saharan Africa five nominal species of Leucinodes and one of Sceliodes occur. One of these species, the eggplant fruit...

Overview of barcoded specimens.

Overview of specimens intercepted in Great Britain by the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera).

Pollination of several angiosperms is based on deceit. In such systems, the flowers advertise a reward that ultimately is not provided. We report on a previously unknown pollination/mimicry system discovered in deceptive Aristolochia rotunda (Aristolochiaceae). Pollinators were collected in the natural habitat and identified. Flower scent and the v...

Table S1Pherobase survey on chemical substances reported for true bugs of the family Miridae Table S2 Composition of headspace scent samples Table S3 Components used as references in scent analyses and for bioassays Table S4 Amount of EAD-active components Table S5 Attractiveness of synthetic scent mixtures and Heteroptera to pollinators Table S6 A...

Recent data on Microlepidoptera of Saxony. – Recent collecting activities resulted in first records of 19 micro moths’ species from Saxony. On top of that, Anatrachyntis badia (Hodges, 1962) is first recorded from Germany as well as Sufetula diminutalis (Walker, 1866) from Europe. The latter two species were found in green houses. Further 20 specie...

The Neotropical genus Catharylla Zeller, 1863 (type species: Crambus tenellus Zeller, 1839) is redescribed. Catharylla contiguella Zeller, 1872, C. interrupta Zeller, 1866 and Myelois sericina Zeller, 1881, included by Munroe (1995) in Catharylla, are moved to Argyria Hübner. Catharylla paulella Schaus, 1922 and C. tenellus (Zeller, 1839) are redes...

Oiketicoides Heylaerts, 1881 species from the Iberian Peninsula are studied based on morphological characters and the DNA-barcode. The results reveal that in addition to Oiketicoides febretta (Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1835) and Oiketicoides eganai (Agenjo, 1962) occur three other previously undescribed species on the peninsula. They are described in t...

This presentation summarises the results of our DNA Barcoding efforts for European Udea moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea). It presents findings on the species pairs of U. maderensis + U. nordmani, and U. institalis + U. confinalis, and on the species assemblage of U. fimbriatralis, U. languidalis and U. zernyi. Four distinct Barcode clusters are foun...

Abstract. Records of the invasive sawfly Aproceros leucopoda (Takeuchi, 1939) in Saxony (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Argidae). – The East Asian sawflyAproceros leucopoda (Takeuchi, 1939) has been recorded for the first time from Germany during the year 2011. Here, first records of the species from Saxony are recorded and illustrated. Probably, popul...