First identifications on Inaturalist of a very rare noctuidae moth Macapta obliqua (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae).

Macapta obliqua was first described by Jones, 1914 and the type locality is Santos, Brazil (https://ftp.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/noctuidae/hadeninae/macapta/). I was unable to find description or pictures of the species. Recently, I found an observation in Inaturalist site claiming that the specimen is a Macapta obliqua that was not included in the site database yet (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142344224). Further investigation leaded to the conclusion that a noctuidae specialist identified this specimen (Dr. Eduardo Carneiro dos Santos).

To improve the knowledge of this species distribution, I compared Inaturalist observations with the images of the specimen identified by Dr. Carneiro dos Santos. The search was made in the brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul; the argentinian provinces of Misiones and Corrientes; and in the countrie of Uruguay. Photos of adults previously identified at least in the family Noctuidae was checked. "Research grade" observations was excluded of the search.

It was found 4 observations of Macapta obliqua in the search, 2 in Rio Grande do Sul and 2 in Santa Catarina.

Macapta obliqua is now known in the states of Rio Grande do sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo. The species was known for Rio Grande do Sul before (Silva, Specht & Link, 2004) but Santa Catarina can be the first evidence of Macapta obliqua occurence there. It's still very low data of the distribution of M. obliqua and more data is necessary to unveil the real distribution of this species.

Bibliography:

Silva, E. J. E., Specht, A. & Link, D. 2004. Noctuídeos (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) do museu entomológico Ceslau Biezanko, departamento de fotossanidade, faculdade de agronomia "Eliseu Maciel", Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Current Agricultural Science and Technology 10 (4): 389-409.

Posted on September 8, 2023 12:53 PM by regisrafael