Abstract
No Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are known to be residents of South Georgia. This paper presents new records of three lepidopterans on the island. Two, Agrotis ipsilon (Noctuidae) and Plutella xylostella (Yponomeutidae), are well-known migrants. The third, Plodia interpunctella (Pyralidae), is closely associated with human habitation. In the context of regional trends of climate warming P. xylostella may already possess the ecophysiological capacity to permit establishment on South Georgia.
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Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Kevin Tuck, Mike Shaffer and Gaden Robinson (Natural History Museum, London) for examining and confirming the identity of the two microlepidoptera. Ben Phalan and Sarah Lurcock are thanked for collecting Plutella xylostella on Bird Island and Plodia interpunctella at King Edward Point. John King (BAS) calculated air mass back trajectories, using data from the British Atmospheric Data Centre.
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Convey, P. Recent lepidopteran records from sub-Antarctic South Georgia. Polar Biol 28, 108–110 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0681-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0681-6