@article {22901, title = {Identification and functional characterization of a sex pheromone receptor in the silkmoth Bombyx mori}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume = {101}, year = {2004}, month = {11/2004}, pages = {16653-16658}, chapter = {16653}, abstract = {

\"Sex pheromones released by female moths are detected with high specificity and sensitivity in the olfactory sensilla of antennae of conspecific males. Bombykol in the silkmoth Bombyx mori was the first sex pheromone to be identified. Here we identify a male-specific G protein-coupled olfactory receptor gene, B. mori olfactory receptor 1 (BmOR-1), that appears to encode a bombykol receptor. The BmOR-1 gene is located on the Z sex chromosome, has an eight-exon/seven-intron structure, and exhibits male-specific expression in the pheromone receptor neurons of male moth antenna during late pupal and adult stages. Bombykol stimulation of Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing BmOR-1 and BmG\αq elicited robust dose-dependent inward currents on two-electrode voltage clamp recordings, demonstrating that the binding of bombykol to BmOR-1 leads to the activation of a BmG\αq-mediated signaling cascade. Antennae of female moths infected with BmOR-1-recombinant baculovirus showed electrophysiological responses to bombykol but not to bombykal. These results provide evidence that BmOR-1 is a G protein-coupled sex pheromone receptor that recognizes bombykol.\"

}, keywords = {BACULOVIRUS, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYKAL, BOMBYKOL, BOMBYX, CHROMOSOMES, OLFACTION, PHEROMONES, XENOPUS}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.0407596101}, author = {Sakurai, T. and Nakagawa, T. and Mitsuno, H. and Mori, H. and Endo, Y. and Tanoue, S. and Yasukochi, Y. and Touhara, K. and Nishioka, T.} } @article {22714, title = {Duplication and sub-functionalisation characterise diversification of opsin genes in the Lepidoptera}, year = {2022}, pages = {1-35}, type = {bioRxiv preprint}, abstract = {

\"Gene duplication is a vital process for evolutionary innovation. Functional diversification of duplicated genes is best explored in multicopy gene families such as histones, hemoglobin, and opsins. Rhodopsins are photo-sensitive proteins that respond to different wavelengths of light and contribute to diverse visual adaptations across insects. While there are several instances of gene duplications in opsin lineages, the functional diversification of duplicated copies and their ecological significance is properly characterised only in a few insect groups. We examined molecular and structural evolution that underlies diversification and sub-functionalisation of four opsin genes and their duplicated copies across 132 species of the diverse insect order\—Lepidoptera. Opsins have largely evolved under purifying selection with few residues showing signs of episodic and pervasive diversifying selection. Although these do not affect overall protein structures of opsins, substitutions in key amino acids in the chromophore-binding pocket of duplicated copies might cause spectral sensitivity shifts leading to sub-functionalisation or neofunctionalisation. Duplicated copies of opsins also exhibit developmental stage-specific expression in Papilio polytes, suggesting functional partitioning during development. Together, altered spectral sensitivities owing to key substitutions and differential expression of duplicated copies across developmental stages might enable enhanced colour perception and improved discrimination across wavelengths in this highly visual insect group.\"

}, keywords = {ANTHERAEA, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, EVOLUTION, GENE DUPLICATION, LEPIDOPTERA, MACROGLOSSUM, OPODIPHTHERA, OPSIN, PHYLOGENY, RHODOPSIN, SATURNIIDAE, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1101/2022.10.31.514481}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.31.514481}, author = {Kuwalekar, M. and Deshmukh, R. and Baral, S. and Padvi, A. and Kunte, K.} } @article {22566, title = {Sericulture as a sustainable agroindustry}, journal = {Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy}, volume = {2}, year = {2022}, month = {08/2022}, pages = {100011}, chapter = {100011}, abstract = {

\"The rich history of silk production (or sericulture) spans over five millennia. The sericulture industry supports jobs, economic development and health and begins with cultivation of mulberry trees with their manifold uses, including production of leaves as food for silkworms. Sericulture culminates in the production of high-quality silk thread as well as high-protein food for humans and animals. It depends, in turn, on one of the most versatile plants known, with additional benefits ranging from enhancing human health to soil conservation. Sericulture represents a rare end-to-end sustainable industry with minimal ecological impact when care is taken with supply chain management. Silk itself is a naturally versatile polymer, known as poly-fibroin, with the versatility of plastic and the advantage of biodegradability. With new developments in (bio)-harvesting technology, markets can now gain access to the single protein monomer, silk fibroin, solubilized in water, at large production scales. We can therefore envision a sustainable silk-derivatives industry that supports the replacement of petrochemicals with compounds derived from fibroin, in applications ranging from common everyday health and wellness products to advanced biopharmaceuticals and implants.\"

}, keywords = {BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, FIBROIN, HUMAN FOOD, SERICULTURE, SILK, SUSTAINABILITY}, doi = {10.1016/j.clcb.2022.100011}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clcb.2022.100011}, author = {Altman, G.H. and Farrell, B.D.} } @article {22410, title = {The Filippi{\textquoteright}s glands of giant silk moths: to be or not to be?}, journal = {Insects}, volume = {12}, year = {2021}, month = {11/2021}, pages = {1040}, chapter = {1040}, abstract = {

\"The Filippi\’s glands (FGs), formerly \“Lyonet\’s glands\”, are paired accessory organs associated with the silk glands. They are unique to Lepidoptera caterpillars and their exact role is not clear. The FGs are thought to be involved in the construction of a silk cocoon in bombycoid moths. FGs can differ in size and shape, therefore, in this study we attempt to find a correlation between FG morphology and phylogenetic position within the Bombycoidea. We use light and electron microscopy to examine the presence and morphology of FGs in a range of wild (giant) silk moths and several related species. Our results confirm that the majority of studied silk moth species have complex type of FGs that continuously increase in size during larval development. We identified several species of giant silk moths and two hawk moth species that completely lack FGs throughout their larval development. Finally, in several hawk moth species in which FGs are well developed during the first larval stage, these glands do not grow and remain small during later larval growth. Our results suggest that FGs are not critical for spinning and that loss of FGs occurred several times during the evolution of saturniids and sphingids. Comparison of FGs in different moths is an important first step in the elucidation of their physiological significance.\"

}, keywords = {ACHERONTIA, ACTIAS, AGLIA, ANTHERAEA, ANTHERINA, ATTACUS, BOMBYX, CALLOSAMIA, DAPHNIS, FILIPPI{\textquoteright}S GLANDS, FOODPLANT, HYALOPHORA, HYLES, IMMATURE MORPHOLOGY, MIMAS, NUDAURELIA, PYRALIDAE, SAMIA, SATURNIIDAE, SILK, SMERINTHUS, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, TELEA}, doi = {10.3390/insects12111040}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12111040}, author = {Sehadova, H. and Zavodska, R. and Zurovec, M. and Sauman, I.} } @article {22394, title = {Systematic position of Bombyx incomposita (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), with notes on its immature biology and hostplant association}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5052}, year = {2021}, month = {10/2021}, pages = {91{\textendash}104}, chapter = {91}, abstract = {

\"The immature stages, morphology, and systematic position of Bombyx incomposita (van Eecke, 1929) are reported. The morphology of larva was investigated using scanning electron microscopy, and the phylogeny was inferred using six genes (COI, CAD, EF-1\α, GAPDH, RpS5, and wgl). The molecular phylogeny strongly supported that B. incomposita is sister to B. huttoni Westwood, 1847. The divergence of the COI barcode, phylogenetic reconstruction, and difference in immature stages support the current classification, in which the species incomposita belongs to the genus Bombyx. We give illustrations of male and female genitalia and briefly discuss the utility of the chaetotaxy of the first instar larvae on taxonomy of silkmoths. The SV group bears six setae in B. mandarina, but eight in B. incomposita. The L1 bears three setae in Rotunda, but just single seta in Bombyx.\"

}, keywords = {BARCODING, BAYESIAN INFERENCE, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CAD, CHAETOTAXY, COI, DNA, EF-1ALPHA, FEMALE GENITALIA, FOODPLANT, GADPH, IMMATURE MORPHOLOGY, IMMATURE STAGES, MALAYSIA, MALE GENITALIA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PHYLOGENY, RpS5, VENATION, WINGLESS}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5052.1.5}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5052.1.5}, author = {Lin, R.-J. and Lin, Y.-C. and Hsu, Y.-F.} } @article {22374, title = {Moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) of Delhi, India: an illustrated checklist based on museum specimens and surveys}, journal = {Biodiversity Data Journal}, volume = {9}, year = {2021}, month = {10/2021}, pages = {e73997}, chapter = {e73997}, abstract = {

\"Background
There have been several recent checklists, books and publications about Indian moths; however, much of this work has focused on biodiversity hotspots such as North-east India, Western Ghats and Western Himalayas. There is a lack of published literature on urban centres in India, despite the increased need to monitor insects at sites with high levels of human disturbance. In this study, we examine the moths of Delhi, the national capital region of India, one of the fastest growing mega-metropolitan cities. We present a comprehensive checklist of 338 moths species using 8 years of light trapping data (2012-2020) and examining about 2000 specimens from historical collections at the National Pusa Collection of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (NPCIARI) spanning over 100 years (1907-2020). The checklist comprises moths from 32 families spanning 14 superfamilies with Noctuoidea (48.5\%) and Pyraloidea (20.4\%) being the the two most dominant superfamilies. We provide links to images of live individuals and pinned specimens for all moths and provide detailed distribution records and an updated
taxonomic treatment.

New information
This is the first comprehensive annotated checklist of the moths of Delhi. The present study adds 234 species to the biodiversity of moths from Delhi that were not reported previously, along with illustrations for 195 species.\"

}, keywords = {ACHERONTIA, AGRIUS, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CEPHONODES, CHECKLIST, CLANIS, DAPHNIS, EUPTEROTE, EUPTEROTIDAE, HIPPOTION, HYLES, INDIA, LEPIDOPTERA, LEUCOPHLEBIA, MACROGLOSSUM, NEPHELE, PSILOGRAMMA, SPHINGIDAE, THERETRA, TRILOCHA, WORLDMAP1}, doi = {10.3897/BDJ.9.e73997}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e73997}, author = {Komal, J. and Shashank, P.R. and Sondhi, S. and Madan, S. and Sondhi, Y. and Meshram, N.M. and Anooj, S.S.} } @article {22348, title = {Comparison of silks from Pseudoips prasinana and Bombyx mori shows molecular convergence in fibroin heavy chains but large differences in other silk components}, journal = {International Journal of Molecula Sciences}, volume = {22}, year = {2021}, month = {07/2021}, pages = {8246}, chapter = {8246}, abstract = {

\"Many lepidopteran larvae produce silk feeding shelters and cocoons to protect themselves and the developing pupa. As caterpillars evolved, the quality of the silk, shape of the cocoon, and techniques in forming and leaving the cocoon underwent a number of changes. The silk of Pseudoips prasinana has previously been studied using X-ray analysis and classified in the same category as that of Bombyx mori, suggesting that silks of both species have similar properties despite their considerable phylogenetic distance. In the present study, we examined P. prasinana silk using \‘omics\’ technology, including silk gland RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and a mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of cocoon proteins. We found that although the central repetitive amino acid sequences encoding crystalline domains of fibroin heavy chain molecules are almost identical in both species, the resulting fibers exhibit quite different mechanical properties. Our results suggest that these differences are most probably due to the higher content of fibrohexamerin and fibrohexamerin-like molecules in P. prasinana silk. Furthermore, we show that whilst P. prasinana cocoons are predominantly made of silk similar to that of other Lepidoptera, they also contain a second, minor silk type, which is present only at the escape valve.\"

}, keywords = {BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, COCOON, FIBROHEXAMERINS, FIBROIN, NOLIDAE, PROTEOMICS, PSEUDOIPS, RNA, SILK, TRANSCRIPTOMICS}, doi = {10.3390/ijms22158246}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22158246}, author = {Rindo{\v s}, M. and Kucerova, L. and Rouhova, L. and Sehadova, H. and Sery, M. and Hradilova, M. and Konik, P. and Zurovec, M.} } @article {22089, title = {A highly contiguous genome assembly of the bat hawkmoth Hyles vespertilio (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)}, journal = {GigaScience}, volume = {9}, year = {2020}, month = {01/2020}, pages = {giaa001 [10 pp.]}, chapter = {giaa001}, abstract = {

\"Background: Adapted to different ecological niches, moth species belonging to the Hyles genus exhibit a spectacular diversity of larval color patterns. These species diverged \∼7.5 million years ago, making this rather young genus an interesting system to study a wide range of questions including the process of speciation, ecological adaptation, and adaptive radiation. Results: Here we present a high-quality genome assembly of the bat hawkmoth Hyles vespertilio, the first reference genome of a member of the Hyles genus. We generated 51\× Pacific Biosciences long reads with an average read length of 8.9 kb. Pacific Biosciences reads longer than 4 kb were assembled into contigs, resulting in a 651.4-Mb assembly consisting of 530 contigs with an N50 value of 7.5 Mb. The circular mitochondrial contig has a length of 15,303 bp. The H. vespertilio genome is very repeat-rich and exhibits a higher repeat content (50.3\%) than other Bombycoidea species such as Bombyx mori (45.7\%) and Manduca sexta (27.5\%). We developed a comprehensive gene annotation workflow to obtain consensus gene models from different evidence including gene projections, protein homology, transcriptome data, and ab initio predictions. The resulting gene annotation is highly complete with 94.5\% of BUSCO genes being completely present, which is higher than the BUSCO completeness of the B. mori (92.2\%) and M. sexta (90\%) annotations. Conclusions: Our gene annotation strategy has general applicability to other genomes, and the H. vespertilio genome provides a valuable molecular resource to study a range of questions in this genus, including phylogeny, incomplete lineage sorting, speciation, and hybridization. A genome browser displaying the genome, alignments, and annotations is available at https://genome-public.pks.mpg.de/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=HLhylVes1.\"

}, keywords = {BOMBYX, GENE ANNOTATION, GENOME ASSEMBLY, HYLES, ITALY, MANDUCA, PACBIO LONG READS, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, doi = {10.1093/gigascience/giaa001}, author = {Pippel, M. and Jebb, D. and Patzold, F. and Winkler, S. and Vogel, H. and Myers, G. and Hiller, M. and Hundsdoerfer, A.K.} } @article {22019, title = {Beobachtungen zur Seidenraupenzucht und Seidenproduktion in Mitteljava, Indonesien (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)}, journal = {Beitr{\"a}ge zur Kenntnis der wilden Seidenspinner}, volume = {17}, year = {2019}, month = {09/2019}, pages = {459-494}, chapter = {459}, abstract = {

\"This paper on the knowledge of the wild silkmoths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) deals with some observations made in the Central Java Province and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (Daerah Istimewah Yogyakarta), Indonesia on the breeding of the wild silkworm Samia ricini (JONES, 1791), and the production of wild silks. After the well known Jogja Royal Silk closed, the wild silk breeding and production commenced again in Yogyakarta by a group of three families very recently in 2017. The marketing of the products runs under the name of Jamtra (Jantra Mas Sejahtera) and jamtra-silk. The silks are spun and woven by using of ATBM-tools (= Alat Tenun Bukan Mesin; ind., [= non-machine weaving tools] = handlooms).
Wild silks were observed being traditionally produced from cocoons of S. ricini reared in Yogyakarta and Central Java, cocoons of Attacus atlas (LINNAEUS, 1758) which were wild collected in Central Java and Yogyakarta and the region of Sukabumi, West Java, and cocoons of Cricula trifenestrata (HELFER, 1837) which were wild collected in Central Java and Yogyakarta. Silk of Bombyx mori (LINNAEUS, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) reared in Pati (near Semarang), Central Java Province and now also imported from China was used as warp threads for the production of Cricula fabrics to reduce the price and for the stabilization of the final silk product. Rayon which was mainly imported from India was used as warp yarn for weaving of Attacus and mixed Attacus/Cricula fabrics for the same reason, to reduce the price of the final product and for the stabilization of the fabric. Rayon was mainly produced from Pinus sp. The final silk product contains about 50\% of pure silk (weft yarns) and about 50\% of rayon (warp yarns). Samia silk is also called Jantra silk and Sutera Singkong (= Singkong silk). The latter name is derived from singkong (= cassava), one of the two main food plants. Samia textiles were produced without adding further products and therefore contain 100\% pure eri-silk. No particular names were established for the wild silks and their products in Yogyakarta so far, except for Samia silk which is called jantra by local people. Names commonly used in Yogyakarta are Samia silk, Attacus silk, and Cricula silk which are derived from the generic names of the appropriate wild silkmoth.
Some samples of cocoons, raw silk, silk yarn and the final silk products of C. trifenestrata, A. atlas, and S. ricini are preserved in the Research Collection of Ulrich and Laela H. Paukstadt (Wilhelmshaven, Germany), cf. http://www-.wildsilkmoth-indonesia.com/1coc_vis.html.\"

}, keywords = {ATTACUS, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CRICULA, SAMIA, SATURNIIDAE, SILK}, author = {Paukstadt, U. and Paukstadt, L.H.} } @article {21956, title = {Molecular phylogeny of silkmoths reveals the origin of domesticated silkmoth, Bombyx mori from Chinese Bombyx mandarina and paternal inheritance of Antheraea proylei mitochondrial DNA}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {40}, year = {2006}, pages = {419-427}, chapter = {419}, abstract = {

\"Molecular phylogeny of some of the economically important silkmoths was derived using three mitochondrial genes, 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and COI, and the control region (CR). Maximum likelihood (ML) analyses showed two distinct clades, one consisting of moths from Bombycidae family and the other from Saturniidae family. The mitochondrial CR showed length polymorphisms with indels. The ML analyses for complete mitochondrial genome sequences of Bombyx mori (strains Aojuku, C108, Backokjam, and Xiafang), Japanese and Chinese strains of B. mandarina (Japanese mandarina and Chinese mandarina) and, Antheraea pernyi revealed two distinct clades, one comprising of B. mori strains and the other with B. mandarina, and A. pernyi forming an outgroup. Pairwise distances revealed that all of the strains of B. mori studied are closer to Chinese than to Japanese mandarina. Phylogenetic analyses based on whole mitochondrial genome sequences, the Wnding of a tandem triplication of a 126 bp repeat element only in Japanese mandarina, and chromosome number variation in B. mandarina suggest that B. mori must have shared its recent common ancestor with Chinese mandarina. Another wild species of the Bombycidae family, Theophila religiosa, whose phylogenetic status was not clear, clustered together with the other bombycid moths in the study. Analysis of the interspeciWc hybrid, A. proylei gave evidence for paternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA.\"

}, keywords = {ANTHERAEA, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, DNA, HYBRIDS, INDIA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, MITOGENOME, MTDNA, PATERNAL INHERITANCE, SATURNIIDAE, TRIUNCINA}, author = {Arunkumar, K.P. and Metta, M. and Nagaraju, J.} } @article {21885, title = {Phylogenetic relationships among Bombycidae s.l. (Lepidoptera) based on analyses of complete mitochondrial genomes}, journal = {Systematic Entomology}, volume = {44}, year = {2019}, month = {07/2019}, pages = {490-498}, chapter = {490}, abstract = {

\"The family Bombycidae (sensu Minet, 1994) is a diverse group of species belonging to the superfamily Bombycoidea. It is an economically important group of moth species, containing well-known silk-producing insects, as well as many pests of agriculture and forestry. The morphology-based hypothesis of Minet (1994) on the composition of Bombycidae is in conflict with subsequent phylogenetic hypotheses for the superfamily based on nuclear genes. In this paper, the complete mitochondrial genomes of nine species of Bombycidae are presented for the first time. Based on these genomes, four dataset partitions and three gblocks parameter settings, phylogenetic relationships among Bombycidae were reconstructed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. Bombycidae was confirmed as a polyphyletic group, with the traditional subfamilies Prismostictinae and Oberthueriinae forming a single well-supported clade that is distant to Bombycinae. The phylogenetic relationships within Bombycoidea were supported as ((((Bombycinae, Sphingidae), Saturniidae), (Prismostictinae, Oberthueriinae)), Eupterotidae).\"

}, keywords = {ANDRACA, BAYESIAN INFERENCE, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, COMPARMUSTILIA, DNA, ENDROMIDAE, ERNOLATIA, GANISA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, MITOGENOME, MUSTILIA, MUSTILIZANS, OCINARA, PHYLOGENY, PRISMOSTICTA, PRISMOSTICTOIDES}, doi = {10.1111/syen.12337}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12337}, author = {Wang, X. and Chen, Z.-M. and Gu, X.-S. and Wang, M. and Huang, G.-H. and Zwick, A.} } @article {21855, title = {The genomic basis of arthropod diversity}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, pages = {1-22}, type = {bioRxiv preprint}, keywords = {ADAPTATION, ARTHROPODA, BODY PLAN, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, DIVERGENCE TIMES, DNA, DNA METHYLATION, EVOLUTION, EVOLUTIONARY RATES, GENE DUPLICATION, GENE FAMILY DYNAMICS, INSECTA, MANDUCA, MORPHOLOGY, PHYLOGENOMICS, PROTEIN DOMAIN EVOLUTION, SPHINGIDAE, TRANSCRIPTOMICS}, doi = {10.1101/382945}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/382945}, author = {Thomas, G.W.C. and Dohmen, E. and Hughes, D.S.T. and Murali, S.C. and Poelchau, M. and Glastad, K. and Anstead, C.A. and Ayoub, N.A. and Batterham, P. and Bellair, M. and Binford, G.J. and Chao, H. and Chen, Y.H. and Childers, C. and Dinh, H. and Doddapaneni, HV. and Duan, J.J. and Dugan, S. and Esposito, L.A. and Friedrich, M. and Garb, J. and Gasser, R.B. and Gundersen-Rindal, D.E. and Han, Y. and Handler, A.M. and Hatakeyama, M. and Hering, L. and Hunter, W.B. and Ioannidis, P. and Jayaseelan, J.C. and Kalra, D. and Khila, A. and Korhonen, P.K. and Lee, C.E. and Li, Y. and Lindsey, A.R.I. and Mayer, G. and McGregor, A.P. and McKenna, D.D. and Misof, B. and Munidasa, M. and Munoz-Torres, M. and Muzny, D.M. and Niehuis, O. and Osuji-Lacy, N. and Palli, S.R. and Panfilio, K.A. and Pechmann, M. and Perry, T. and Peters, R.S. and Poynton, H.C. and Prpic, N.-M. and Qu, J. and Rotenberg, D. and Schal, C. and Schoville, S.D. and Scully, E.D. and Skinner, E. and Sloan, D.B. and Stouthamer, R. and Strand, M.R. and Szucsich, N.U. and Wijeratne, A. and Young, N.D. and Zattara, E.E. and Benoit, J.B. and Zdobnov, E.M. and Pfrender, M.E. and Hackett, K.J. and Werren, J.H. and Worley, K.C. and Gibbs, R.A. and Chipman, A.D. and Waterhouse, R.M. and Bornberg-Bauer, E. and Hahn, M.W. and Richards, S.} } @article {21848, title = {List of moths collected at Asagiri-kogen, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture in 2017, on insects fauna investigation which is to be outsourced from Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan}, journal = {Japanese Heterocerists{\textquoteright} Journal}, volume = {285}, year = {2018}, month = {04/2018}, pages = {241-246}, chapter = {241}, keywords = {ACTIAS, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CALLAMBULYX, CHECKLIST, CLANIS, DEILEPHILA, DOLBINA, ENDROMIDAE, JAPAN, MARUMBA, OBERTHUERIA, PHYLLOSPHINGIA, SATURNIIDAE, SMERINTHUS, THERETRA, WORLDMAP1}, author = {Kishida, Y. and Akiba, T. and Iimori, M. and Kitajima, Y. and Sakamoto, Y. and Yano, T. and Jinbo, U.} } @article {21656, title = {The complete mitochondrial genome of Triuncina daii (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) and its phylogenetic implications}, journal = {Entomotaxonomia}, volume = {39}, year = {2017}, month = {09/2017}, pages = {223-237}, chapter = {223}, abstract = {

\"The bombycid moth, Triuncina daii Xing Wang \& Zolotuhin, 2015, plays an important role for analyzing the phylogenetic relationships of the family Bombycidae\  (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea). Here we first describe the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of T. daii, which includes thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs), twenty-two transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and an A+T-rich region, and we find the mitogenome is 15,482 bp in length (GenBank no. KY091643). The genes order and orientation in the T. daii mitogenome are similar to other sequenced lepidopteran species. Except for cox1, all of the PCGs started with ATN. Twelve PCGs stopped at TAA except for cox1 which stops at a single T. Thirteen PCGs of available species are used to demonstrate the inner phylogenetic relationships of Bombycoidea. The bombycid species form a monophyletic clade with a bootstrap value of 100\% and a posterior probability of 1.00.\"

}, keywords = {BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, MITOGENOME, MTDNA, PHYLOGENY, TRIUNCINA}, doi = {10.11680/entomotax.2017027}, author = {Zhao, Y. and Gu, X. and Ren, G. and Wang, X.} } @article {21565, title = {Identifying species of moths (Lepidoptera) from Baihua Mountain, Beijing, China, using DNA barcodes}, journal = {Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {4}, year = {2014}, pages = {2472-2487}, chapter = {2472}, abstract = {

\"DNA barcoding has become a promising means for the identification of organisms of all life-history stages. Currently, distance-based and tree-based methods are most widely used to define species boundaries and uncover cryptic species. However, there is no universal threshold of genetic distance values that can be used to distinguish taxonomic groups. Alternatively, DNA barcoding can deploy a \“character-based\” method, whereby species are identified through the discrete nucleotide substitutions. Our research focuses on the delimitation of moth species using DNA-barcoding methods. We analyzed 393 Lepidopteran specimens belonging to 80 morphologically recognized species with a standard cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequencing approach, and deployed tree-based, distance-based, and diagnostic character-based methods to identify the taxa. The tree-based method divided the 393 specimens into 79 taxa (species), and the distance-based method divided them into 84 taxa (species). Although the diagnostic character-based method found only 39 so-identifiable species in the 80 species, with a reduction in sample size the accuracy rate substantially improved. For example, in the Arctiidae subset, all 12 species had diagnostics characteristics. Compared with traditional morphological method, molecular taxonomy performed well. All three methods enable the rapid delimitation of species, although they have different characteristics and different strengths. The tree-based and distance-based methods can be used for accurate species identification and biodiversity studies in large data sets, while the character-based method performs well in small data sets and can also be used as the foundation of species-specific biochips.\"

}, keywords = {AMBULYX, AMPELOPHAGA, BARCODE GAP, BARCODE INDEX NUMBER, BARCODING, BAYESIAN INFERENCE, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, BRAHMAEA, BRAHMAEIDAE, CALLAMBULYX, CHINA, COI, DNA, KENTROCHRYSALIS, LAOTHOE, MARUMBA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, NEIGHBOR-JOINING, PHYLLOSPHINGIA, RHAGASTIS, SPECIES DELIMITATION, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, WORLDMAP1}, doi = {10.1002/ece3.1110}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1110}, author = {Liu, X.F. and Yang, C.H. and Han, H.L. and Ward, R.D. and Zhang, A.} } @article {21504, title = {The fauna of the family Bombycidae sensu lato (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea) from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hainan Islands}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {3989}, year = {2015}, month = {07/2015}, pages = {1-138}, chapter = {1}, abstract = {

\"Seventy-seven species of family Bombycidae s. lat., belonging to 25 genera in three subfamilies, that have been recorded from China are listed and described, with illustrations of the adults, preimaginal stages (if available), and their genitalia. Keys to subfamilies and genera are provided. Two new genera and four new species are described, two subgenera are raised to generic status, seven new combinations are made, and one genus and six species are newly recorded from China. The new taxa are as follows: Rotunda Wang, X. \& Zolotuhin, gen. nov., Comparmustilia Wang, X. \& Zolotuhin, gen. nov., Triuncina daii Wang, X. \& Zolotuhin, sp. nov., Triuncina xiongi Wang, X. \& Zolotuhin, sp. nov., Gnathocinara boi Wang, X. \& Zolotuhin, sp. nov. and Promustilia yajiangensis Wang, X. \& Zolotuhin, sp. nov. The taxa newly recorded for China are: Sesquiluna Forbes, 1955; Trilocha friedeli Dierl, 1978; Bivincula kalikotei Dierl, 1978; Sesquiluna forbesi Zolotuhin \& Witt, 2009; Mustilizans lepusa Zolotuhin, 2007; Smerkata brechlini (Zolotuhin, 2007) and Mustilia castanea Moore, 1879. The seven new combinations are: Rotunda rotundapex (Miyata \& Kishida, 1990), comb. nov., Triuncina nitida (Chu \& Wang, L.Y., 1993), comb. nov., Gunda sesostris (Vuillot, 1893), comb. nov., Smerkata fusca (Kishida, 1993), comb. nov., Comparmustilia sphingiformis (Moore, 1879), comb. nov., Comparmustilia semiravida (Yang, 1995), comb. nov., Comparmustilia gerontica (West, 1932), comb. nov.. The two subgenera raised to generic level are: Promustilia Zolotuhin, 2007, stat. nov. and Smerkata Zolotuhin, 2007, stat. nov.. The distributions of the species in China were determined and distributional maps provided. All type specimens of the new species described here are deposited in the College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, China (HUNAU); Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, China (SCAU); Kyushu University Museum, Kyushu University, Japan (KUM), and Entomological Museum Thomas J. Witt, Munich, Germany (MWM).\"

}, keywords = {ANDRACA, BIVINCULA, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYCINAE, BOMBYX, CATALOGUE, CHECKLIST, COCOON, COMPARMUSTILIA, DALAILAMA, ENDROMIDAE, ERNOLATIA, FEMALE GENITALIA, FOODPLANT, GNATHOCINARA, GUNDA, IMMATURE MORPHOLOGY, MALE GENITALIA, MUSTILIA, MUSTILIZANS, OBERTHUERIA, OBERTHUERINAE, OCINARA, PARASITOIDS, PENICILLIFERA, PRISMOSTICTA, PRISMOSTICTINAE, PRISMOSTICTOIDES, PROMUSTILIA, PSEUDANDRACA, RONDOTIA, ROTUNDA, SESQUILUNA, SMERKATA, THEOPHOBA, TRILOCHA, TRIUNCINA, VALVARIBIFIDUM}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.3989.1.1}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3989.1.1}, author = {Wang, X. and Wang, M. and Zolotuhin, V.V. and Hirowatari, T. and Wu, S. and Huang, G.-H.} } @article {21298, title = {Conservation, duplication, and divergence of five opsin genes in insect evolution}, journal = {Genome Biology and Evolution}, volume = {8}, year = {2016}, month = {02/2016}, pages = {579-587}, chapter = {579}, abstract = {

\"Opsin proteins covalently bind to small molecular chromophores and each protein-chromophore complex is sensitive to particular wavelengths of light. Multiple opsins with different wavelength absorbance peaks are required for color vision. Comparing opsin responses is challenging at low light levels, explaining why color vision is often lost in nocturnal species. Here, we investigated opsin evolution in 27 phylogenetically diverse insect species including several transitions between photic niches (nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular).We find widespread conservation of five distinct opsin genes, more than commonly considered.\  These comprise one c-opsin plus four r-opsins (long wavelength sensitive or LWS, blue sensitive, ultra violet [UV] sensitive and the often overlooked Rh7 gene). Several recent opsin gene duplications are also detected. The diversity of opsin genes is consistent with color vision in diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal insects. Tests for positive selection in relation to photic niche reveal evidence for adaptive evolution in UVsensitive opsins in day-flying insects in general, and in LWS opsins of day-flying Lepidoptera specifically.\"

}, keywords = {BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, C-OPSINS, COLOUR VISION, DAY/NIGHT TRANSITIONS, EREBIDAE, EVOLUTION, GENE DUPLICATION, INSECTA, LWS-OPSIN, MANDUCA, OPSIN, PHYLOGENY, R-OPSINS, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1093/gbe/evw015}, author = {Feuda, R. and Marl{\'e}taz, F. and Bentley, M.A. and Holland, P.W.H.} } @article {21260, title = {Feeding single-walled carbon nanotubes or graphene to silkworms for reinforced silk fibers}, journal = {Nano Letters}, volume = {16}, year = {2016}, month = {09/2016}, pages = {6695-6700}, chapter = {6695}, abstract = {

\"Silkworm silk is gaining significant attention from both the textile industry and research society because of its outstanding mechanical properties and lustrous appearance. The possibility of creating tougher silks attracts particular research interest. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are widely studied for their use as reinforcement. In this work, we report mechanically enhanced silk directly collected by feeding Bombyx mori larval silkworms with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene. We found that parts of the fed carbon nanomaterials were incorporated into the as-spun silk fibers, whereas the others went into the excrement of silkworms. Spectroscopy study indicated that nanocarbon additions hindered the conformation transition of silk fibroin from random coil and \α-helix to \β-sheet, which may contribute to increased elongation at break and toughness modules. We further investigated the pyrolysis of modified silk, and a highly developed graphitic structure with obviously enhanced electrical conductivity was obtained through the introduction of SWNTs and graphene. The successful generation of these SWNT- or graphene-embedded silks by in vivo feeding is expected to open up possibilities for the large-scale production of high-strength silk fibers.\"

}, keywords = {BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, GRAPHENE, NANOTUBES, SILK}, doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03597}, author = {Wang, Q. and Wang, C. and Zhang, M. and Jian, M. and Zhang, Y.} } @article {19289, title = {Moths in Nanling Mountains, Guangdong, S. China}, journal = {Yadoriga}, volume = {187}, year = {2000}, month = {2000}, pages = {10-17}, chapter = {10}, keywords = {ACOSMERYCOIDES, ACOSMERYX, ACTIAS, AMBULYX, ANTHERAEA, ANTHERAEOPSIS, ARCTIIDAE, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CATALOGUE, CECHENENA, CHINA, CLANIS, DAHIRA, GEOMETRIDAE, HETEROGENEIDAE, LASIOCAMPIDAE, LOEPA, LYMANTRIIDAE, MACROGLOSSUM, MARUMBA, MEGANOTON, NOCTUIDAE, NOLIDAE, NOTODONTIDAE, PHYLLOSPHINGIA, PYRALIDAE, RHAGASTIS, SAMIA, SATURNIIDAE, SESQUILUNA, SPHINGIDAE, ZYGAENIDAE}, author = {Morishita, K. and Kishida, Y.} } @article {18770, title = {Notes on some moths from Taiwan (II)}, journal = {Japan Heterocerists{\textquoteright} Journal}, volume = {127}, year = {1984}, month = {1984}, pages = {23-27}, keywords = {BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CATALOGUE, SMERINTHULUS, SPHINGIDAE, TAIWAN, WORLDMAP1}, author = {Kishida, Y.} } @article {17015, title = {Phylotranscriptomics: saturated third codon positions radically influence the estimation of trees based on next-gen data}, journal = {Genome Biology and Evolution}, volume = {5}, year = {2013}, month = {10/2013}, pages = {2082-2092}, chapter = {2082}, abstract = {

\"Recent advancements in molecular sequencing techniques have led to a surge in the number of phylogenetic studies that incorporate large amounts of genetic data. We test the assumption that analyzing large number of genes will lead to improvements in tree resolution and branch support using moths in the superfamily Bombycoidea, a group with some interfamilial relationships that have been difficult to resolve. Specifically, we use a next-gen data set that included 19 taxa and 938 genes (\∼1.2M bp) to examine how codon position and saturation might influence resolution and node support among three key families. Maximum likelihood, parsimony, and species tree analysis using gene tree parsimony, on different nucleotide and amino acid data sets, resulted in largely congruent topologies with high bootstrap support compared with prior studies that included fewer loci. However, for a few shallow nodes, nucleotide and amino acid data provided high support for conflicting relationships. The third codon position was saturated and phylogenetic analysis of this position alone supported a completely different, potentially misleading sister group relationship. We used the program RADICAL to assess the number of genes needed to fix some of these difficult nodes. One such node originally needed a total of 850 genes but only required 250 when synonymous signal was removed. Our study shows that, in order to effectively use next-gen data to correctly resolve difficult phylogenetic relationships, it is necessary to assess the effects of synonymous substitutions and third codon positions.\"

}, keywords = {ACTIAS, ANTHERAEA, BOMBYCIDAE, BOMBYX, CERATOMIA, DARAPSA, DNA, ENYO, HEMARIS, INCOMPLETE, MANDUCA, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, PARSIMONY, PHYLOGENY, RADICAL, RAXML, SAMIA, SATURATION, SATURNIIDAE, SPHINGIDAE, SYNONYMOUS SUBSTITUTIONS, TRANSCRIPTOMICS}, doi = {10.1093/gbe/evt157}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evt157}, author = {Breinholt, J.W. and Kawahara, A.Y.} }