Revision of the types of Dargida Walker, 1856 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) deposited in European collections

• Grant number: 14/00576-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 30, 2014
• End date: November 29, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Duarte da Silva
• Grantee: Anderson Muñoz Quintero
• Supervisor: Geoff Martin
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Natural History Museum, London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/14685-2 - Revision and phylogenetic analysis of genus Dargida Walker, 1856 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Hadeninae: Hadenini), BP.DR

Abstract

Dargida Walker, 1856 (Noctuidae: Hadeninae) is an American genus, currently represented by 57 valid species. Although the existing records show that Dargida present continuous distribution from Canada to Chile and that have a preference for altitudes over 1400 meters above sea level, there are several gaps about the distribution of these moths in neotropic and nearctic regions, besides taxonomical problems that still difficult the establishment of basic criteria for the correct identification of the species and its separation from similar genus. Thus, the objectives of this project are: to review the European collections that have deposited type material of species belonging to the genus Dargida; when possible, dissect the type material to define the diagnostic characters of each species and compare the material from the visited collections to have greater scope for the morphological and cladistics analysis. (AU)