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Lepidoptera outbreaks in response to successional changes after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Juan A. Torres
Juan A. Torres
Affiliation:
Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Call Box 25000, Río Piedras, PR 00928-2500 and Department of Biology, Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Bayamón, Bayamón, PR 00959-1919
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Abstract

Fifteen species of Lepidoptera occurred in large numbers in spring and early summer after the passage of Hurricane Hugo over the north-east of Puerto Rico. Spodoptera eridania (Noctuidae) was the most common of the larvae and fed on 56 plant species belonging to 31 families. All the Lepidoptera fed on early successional vegetation. Some of the plants represent new host plants for these species. The outbreaks appeared to be based on the flush of new foliage that developed in the Luquillo Mountains after the passage of the hurricane. The end of the S. eridania outbreak was concurrent with the consumption of its preferred host plants and to an apparent increment in parasitism by ichneumonids (Hymenoptera). Parasitism by tachinids (Diptera) may have contributed to the reduction in abundance of other Lepidoptera species that were temporarily very abundant. Natural enemies of S. eridania were recorded for the first time in Puerto Rico.

Keywords

DipteradisturbanceHymenopterainsectsLepidopteraparasitesPuerto Rico
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , August 1992 , pp. 285 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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