Cross and back-cross experiments with Papilio okinawensis and P. dehaanii were conducted by hand pairing with subsequent testing of the reproductive capability of F1, BC1, BC2 and BC3 hybrids. These experiments indicated that P. okinawensis and P. dehaanii may be in the process of diverging into distinct species.
Blastobasis spiniella Park, 2000 is newly recorded from Japan. The habitus of B. spiniella is presented, and male and female genitalia are shown. A phylogenetic tree is inferred based on COI barcode sequences of B. spiniella and other known Blastobasis species from Japan.
Seed predation by insects is an important factor influencing the evolution of synchronized annual fluctuations in the seed production of plant species. Photinia glabra (Rosaceae) is an evergreen bird-dispersed tree species that exhibits high variation in annual fruit production and heavy seed predation by insects. To identify the insect species infesting P. glabra, and to investigate seed predation patterns by these insects, we periodically sampled its infructescences from post-flowering until fruit ripening. We reared insects obtained from infested P. glabra fruits, and found that the insect species was Argyresthia assimilis Moriuti, 1977 (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae), whose host plant has been unknown since it was first described. Emerging females oviposited on P. glabra fruits in late September, usually laying a single egg per fruit. Larvae bored into the oviposited fruits and fed on seeds within the fruit. Final instar larvae exited the fruits to form cocoons in advance of fruit ripening in late December. Because P. glabra decreases the number of fruits after flowering (mid-May to mid-August), and because ripe fruits are heavily eaten by birds, immature life history of A. assimilis prevents egg loss by laying eggs after the decline in fruit number, and enables larvae to avoid bird predation within ripe fruits. This tight synchronization between insect and host plant life histories suggests that the host range of A. assimilis is restricted to P. glabra and its close relatives.
A new species of the genus Nosphistica Meyrick, N. fermata sp. nov., is described from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan and the genus is newly recorded for Japanese fauna. The adult specimens and male and female genitalia are illustrated in detail.