First record of the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) at a research station in Antarctica

Câmara, Paulo E.A.S.; Convey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8497-9903; Ferreira, Vinícius Alves; Togni, Pedro Henrique Brum; Luz, Jose Roberto Pujol. 2022 First record of the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) at a research station in Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 34 (5). 361 -364. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000281

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Abstract/Summary

We report the first formal record of the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella from a location within the Antarctic Treaty area, with the capture of a live adult male within the Brazilian Comandante Ferraz research station on King George Island, South Shetland Islands. This species is a well-known pest of stored products and is widely recorded in synanthropic situations such as food stores globally. No other adults or immature stages have been observed on the station. While there is no suggestion that P. interpunctella could survive or establish in the natural environment beyond the station, this observation highlights the ever-present threat of unintended anthropogenically assisted transfer of non-Antarctic species into human facilities on the continent, with some such species proving extremely difficult to eradicate if they successfully establish within these facilities.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000281
ISSN:	0954-1020
Additional Keywords:	Antarctic Lepidoptera, Antarctic Peninsula, Ferraz Station, invasive insect
Date made live:	05 Aug 2022 15:44 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/531949

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