The species of the genus Azamora Walker, 1858 whose larvae feed on Passiflora sp. (Passifloraceae) in Tropical America (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Chrysauginae)

Three species of the genus Azamora Walker, 1858: A. sororia Druce, 1899, A. penicillana (Walker, 1863) and A. flammeana (Sepp, [1844]), have been found to feed on Passiflora species (Passifloraceae) in Tropical America. Adults and genitalia of the three species are illustrated.


Introduction
Larvae of Azamora Walker, 1858 species have been found damaging fruits and stems of wild and cultivated Passiflora (Passifloraceae) species in tropical America and reared to adult stages by the author.Adults, obtained from larvae damaging the same plants were also sent for identification by agronomists working with Passiflora crops in South America.A literature search revealed no report of such damage this century.However, records on these insects feeding on Passiflora are not new as reports have been included in early books on South American insects (Merian, 1705;Sepp, [1844Sepp, [ ]-[1848]]).
Azamora includes 13 species (Solis et al. 1995), several of them, like the three species treated here, have been described several times.The immatures as well as the adults and feeding damages are described, and illustrations are provided to enable their identification.Distribution records are based on adults found in major collections.VOB) and on the pertinent literature.Genitalia were prepared following the methods described by Robinson (1976).Terms for morphological characters follow Hodges (1971).

Results
The adults obtained from material bred from larvae feeding on Passiflora (Passifloraceae) species belong to three species.Diagnoses, adults, and genitalia of these species are described and illustrated in order to allow their identification.
Distribution: Over 70 specimens, adults, and immature, were examined (AMC, CNC, INBio, USNM, VOB), from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina.Collected localities indicates that this species is better adapted to cooler areas.Except for the specimens collected at Lima, Peru all the others came from higher elevations, between 600 m at Turrialba, Costa Rica, and 2000 m at Volcán Turrialba, also in Costa Rica.None has been recorded from the lowlands of the Amazon region or other lowland tropical areas.However, Lima, despite its low elevation is relatively cool, with 18.75º C of annual average temperature.
Host plants and immature behavior: Passiflora spp.: P. quadrangularis L., P. edulis Sims, P. caerulea L., P. violacea Vell., fruit and stem borer.Mature larvae reach 30 mm long, dark olive dorsally, cream ventrally, slightly compressed dorso-ventrally (larvae fixed with Kahle solution and preserved into 70% alcohol become beige with an orange head).It was illustrated by Munroe & Solis (1999, p. 241), from material provided by the author.
Remarks: Adults are morphological and chromatic dimorphic, with variable pattern; the major reasons why the species has been described more than one time.Similarly, to other Pyraloidea the adults, when resting, bend the abdomen upwards (Figures 9,10).
Biology: Adults and larvae specimens, obtained from cultivated Passiflora species, were submitted for identification, but no indication of which parts of the plant were infested was given.
Remarks: According to the collecting localities this species seems to be better adapted to the lower and warmer areas.The highest altitude record is 600 m, at Turrialba, Costa Rica, where it is sympatric with A. sororia.All the remaining records, including those of the type-localities, come from the lowland tropics, especially the Amazon region.
Biology: The few specimens available for study were, apparently, all collected at light.According to SEPP (Figure 18), the larvae feed on the leaves.
Distribution: Twelve specimens were examined (NHMUK, INBio, USNM, VOB).All were collected in the lowlands of the Amazonian-Guyanan region, south to Bahia, Brazil.
Remarks: Although SEPP's type material does not exist anymore, the illustrations, descriptions, and host plant, leave no doubt that Phalaena Tortrix flammeana Seep, 1852 belongs to Azamora.The ochreous antemedial band on forewings matches that of A. ochribasalis (Hampson, 1906), leaving little doubt that both names belong to a single species.Merian (1705), in her marvelous book on the insects of Suriname, was the first author to give an illustration of one Azamora species.On Plate XXI (Figure 19) she depicts a branch, showing the leaves, flowers, and fruits of a Passiflora species that she identified as the "Maracuia Guaçu" of MARCGRAF (Pisonis, 1648)."Maracujá" is the word used in Brazil even today to designate all the members of the passion-flower family.And "Guaçu", in Brazil means big, large (both words originated from the Tupy language).Consequently "Maracuiá-Guaçu" is nothing else than P. quadrangulare.On the same plate Merian (1705) illustrates several insects that she found feeding on the plant, including one adult moth that, with no doubt, is one Azamora species.On the lower left she depicted a ripe, open fruit, with a black caterpillar, with red head.These colors are similar to those of the A. sororia Druce, 1899, which are dark olive, with brown head.The painting is not accurate enough to establish its identity to species level.However, it is not A. nobilis (Druce, 1903), as suggested by Becker & Stearn (1982).A. nobilis is dark reddish-brown, not olivaceous as shown in the illustration.Both the colour and the pattern approaches those of A. sororia and A. flammeana.Also, as Merian (1705) observations were presumably based on specimens from around Paramaribo, near the coast, an altitude not recorded for A. sororia, what is confirmed by specimens of A. sororia examined, none from Suriname, it is very likely that the illustration represents A. flammeana which was also described from Surinam.This species had been overlooked and/or unidentified since its description, at least had not been included in the major works covering Pyraloidea (Lederer, 1863;Hampson, 1897).It was recognized the first time by this author and included in Solis et al. (1995, p. 81).
THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS AZAMORA WALKER, 1858