''Hellinsia beneficus'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Pterophoridae The Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblag ...

. It is native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, but was introduced to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

in 1973 as a biological control agent against mistflower, ''

Ageratina riparia ''Ageratina riparia'', commonly known as mistflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico. The species is widely adventive and has spread to Cuba, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean. It has also bee ...

''.

Taxonomy

The species was identified by Kôji Yano and John B. Heppner in 1983 as ''Oidaematophorus beneficus''. In 1995, it was transferred to the genus ''Leiptilus'' by Miller and Gielis and the species became known as ''Leioptilus beneficus''. The genus is now recognised as '' Hellinsia'' and the species as ''H. beneficus''.

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is . The forewings are brown‑grey at the costa and near the base. The markings are dark brown. The hindwings are brown‑grey. Adults are on wing in February and July, at an altitude of . The moth prefers higher altitudes and has rarely been observed below 460 m (1500 ft) by researchers in Hawaii. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e feed on ''

''.

Pupation A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

takes place on leaves or in litter at the base of the plant or on the stem. The moth larvae create smooth edged holes in the plant's leaves, which stunt its growth. Because the ''A. riparia'' is highly invasive in tropical climates, the moth has been used as a biological control agent to slow its growth. Although the larvae are highly specific to ''A. riparia'', they have also reportedly been found feeding on '' A. adenophora'' in Hawaii. The

parasitoid wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causin ...

, '' Meteorus laphygmae'' has been observed parasitizing the species' larvae in Hawaii.

Distribution

''H. beneficus'' is native to Mexico, in the region which its larval host plant, ''A. riparia'' originates. The species of moth has since been introduced to other regions as a biological control agent against ''A. riparia.'' After collecting specimens from Mexico, unsuccessful attempts were made to introduce the species to Hawaii in 1959 and 1965. The moth was successfully introduced in Hawaii in 1973 when a total of approximately 1525 specimens from Contreras, Mexico were released at Mt. Kaala and Kona.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5707724 beneficus Lepidoptera of Mexico Moths described in 1983 Insects used for control of invasive plants

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution

Further reading

References