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www.aegaweb.com/arquivos_entomoloxicos
ISSN: 1989-6581
van der Heyden (2016)
ARQUIVOS ENTOMOLÓXICOS, 15: 83-84
83
NOTA / NOTE
An unusual observation: A specimen of Dysdercus mimulus
Hussey, 1929 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae)
feeding on a moth.
Torsten van der Heyden
Immenweide 83, D-22523 Hamburg, GERMANY. e-mail: tmvdh@web.de
Abstract: An observation of Dysdercus mimulus Hussey, 1929 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) feeding on a
moth is reported. Additional information on the ecology and the distribution of this species as well as of the genus
Dysdercus Guérin-Méneville, 1831 is also given.
Key words: Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pyrrhocoridae, Dysdercus mimulus, zoophagous, distribution, ecology, Mexico.
Resumen: Una observación poco habitual: Un ejemplar de Dysdercus mimulus Hussey, 1929 (Hemiptera:
Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) alimentándose de una mariposa nocturna. Se informa sobre una observación de
Dysdercus mimulus Hussey, 1929 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) alimentándose de una mariposa nocturna. Se
aporta también información adicional sobre la ecología y la distribución de esta especie y del género Dysdercus Guérin-
Méneville, 1831.
Palabras clave: Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pyrrhocoridae, Dysdercus mimulus, zoófago, distribución, ecología, México.
Recibido: 16 de enero de 2016 Publicado on-line: 4 de febrero de 2016
Aceptado: 25 de enero de 2016
The genus Dysdercus Guérin-Méneville, 1831 in the family Pyrrhocoridae (Hemiptera) is
widespread with species distributed in the Old World, the New World (Doesburg Jr., 1968; Adis &
Froeschner, 1982) and Australia (Wilson et al., 2008). All of them are showing characteristic white
markings between head and thorax.
Species of Dysdercus are known to be phytophagous, feeding mainly on Malvaceae -for example
Hibiscus sp. (Fig. 1) and Gossypium sp. (cotton)- and on Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae. The only parts used
to feed on are the ripe or ripening seeds. As many species of host plants produce seeds only
periodically, most -if not all- species of the genus Dysdercus are (phyto-)polyphagous (Doesburg Jr.,
1968).
Occasional predation (including cannibalism) has been observed. For example, Dysdercus
suturellus (Herrich-Schäffer, 1842) has been reported as a predator, feeding on the Cotton Leafworm
Alabama argillacea (Hübner, 1823) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and preying upon the larvae and pupae of
the Yellow Scallop Moth Anomis erosa Hübner, 1821 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Doesburg Jr., 1968).
Members of the genus are considered agricultural pests and are commonly known as Cotton
Stainer Bugs or Red Cotton Bugs. These names derive from their habit of staining cotton a brownish or
reddish yellow when feeding on the bolls, sometimes caused by a fungal pathogen transmitted during
feeding (Wilson et al., 2008).
Dysdercus mimulus Hussey, 1929 is a neotropical species and has been reported from the south
of the United States of America (Florida and Texas), Mexico, Central America (Guatemala, Belize, El
Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), the Caribbean (Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the
Dominican Republic) and Venezuela. Two subspecies are known: D. mimulus mimulus and D. mimulus luteus
Doesburg, 1968 (Doesburg Jr., 1968).
van der Heyden (2016): An unusual observation: Dysdercus mimulus Hussey (Hem.: Pyrrhocoridae) feeding on a moth.
84
Searching the internet, very little
information on the biology and ecology of D.
mimulus can be found.
On 16.4.2015, while taking photographs of
different species of insects attracted by artificial
light, Lauren Green Zárate was able to observe and
photograph an unusual behaviour of a specimen of
D. mimulus. The observation took place near Xilitla,
San Luis Potosí, Mexico around 9:30 p.m. (local
time).
A specimen of D. mimulus was feeding on a
small moth (“Microlepidoptera”). In the
photographs (Figs. 2 and 3), the rostrum is clearly
seen, stuck into the dorsal part of the moth and -
supposingly- sucking liquid from the body. Although
predation has been reported for at least one other
species of the genus Dysdercus, this behaviour is
somewhat surprising.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Lauren Green Zárate
(San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico) for
providing me with information about her
observation reported in this publication and for the
photographs used to illustrate it.
References
Adis, J. & Froeschner, R.C. 1982. Notes on distribution
of some Latin American Cotton-Stainers (Dysdercus:
Pyrrhocoridae: Hemiptera) and remarks on the biology of
Dysdercus urbahni Schmidt. Proceedings of the
Biological Society of Washington 95(2): 371-376.
Doesburg Jr., P.H. van. 1968. A revision of the New
World species of Dysdercus Guérin Méneville
(Heteroptera, Pyrrhocoridae). Zoologische
Verhandelingen 97: 1-213 + 16 plates.
Wilson, L.; Khan, M. & Farrell, T. 2008. Pest profile. Pale
cotton stainers, Dysdercus sidae. On Farm Series: IPM:
1-4. Available from:
http://www.insidecotton.com/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1/
127/Cotton_Stainer.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
(Accessed: 16.01.2016).
Fig. 1.- Dysdercus sp. Escazú, San José, Costa Rica, 11.11.2006. (Photograph: Torsten van der Heyden).
Figs. 2-3.- Dysdercus mimulus Hussey, 1929. Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, 16.4.2015. (Photographs: Lauren Green Zárate).
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