Aim Migratory species depend on various habitats and resources along their migration routes. Characteristics such as dependence on distinct habitats and the presence of multiple threats along their migratory routes make these species vulnerable, and gaps in knowledge about their ecology and migration processes make them difficult to conserve. Urania boisduvalii is a diurnal moth endemic to Cuba that feeds on plants of Omphalea spp. during its larval phases. These plants produce secondary metabolites as a defence against the moth's larvae, which then are forced to migrate. Although some ecological aspects of Urania boisduvalii are known, its migration routes remain largely unknown. This research proposes potential migratory routes of Urania boisduvalii among populations of its host plant. Location Cuba. Methods We developed ecological niche models of the moth and its hosts based on environmental, anthropic, biotic and biogeographic factors to obtain potential distributional areas that include zones where positive interactions are found but exclude those where negative factors are present. These areas were overlapped to hypothesize potential breeding areas for the moths. Potential migratory corridors were proposed based on environmental connectivity. Results The moth and its hosts have broad potential distributions; however, limiting factors have substantially reduced these areas, especially for plants. The potential migratory routes of Urania boisduvalii are complex and mostly involve the western and eastern regions of Cuba. Most records outside potential breeding areas were close to these migratory corridors. Main conclusions We offer initial hypotheses of the migratory routes of U. boisduvalii, which may be useful to guiding monitoring projects that can provide more definitive views of the seasonal distribution of this species across the Cuban archipelago.

Phoenicoprocta capistrata (Fabricius 1775) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) is an arctiid moth reported for the Caribbean and Brazil, whose immature stages and life cycle are unknown. In this study, and for the first time, a host plant is registered and the immature stages and the captivity life cycle are described using a Cuban population. Larvae feed on fowlsfoot, Serjania diversifolia (Jacq.) Radlk (Sapindales: Sapindaceae). One complete cohort was obtained from December of 2004 to February of 2005 and about 57 days lapsed from oviposition to adult emergence. The egg is light green-yellowish and semi-spherical. Most larvae developed through 6 or 7 instars, although there were individuals with 8 instars. The last instar has a cephalic capsule width of 2.04 ± 0.06 mm (n = 29) irrespective of the number of instars. The cephalic capsule growth curves of the larvae with 6 and 7 instars have different slopes, but both follow a geometric pattern consistent with the Dyar's rule. In each larval molt the setae types and the larvae coloration change. Adult females have two color morphs, one orange-reddish and the other blue. Female descendants of blue and red females differ in the proportion of color morphs, which could indicate the existence of a female-limited polymorphism phenomenon in this species.

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Tomato is one of the crops that require buzz pollination, for which a pollinator vibrates the tubular anthers for pollen to be released. This process is efficiently carried out by wild bees, whose distribution varies according to the geographical location and the particular characteristics of the different agroecosystems. The pollination network associated with tomato fields located in an agricultural area of ​​ Cuba was determined by field observations. In addition, it was studied whether pollination influences tomato yield, through exclusion experiments and comparing the characteristics of the fruits obtained in the presence or absence of pollinators. The pollination network consisted of 241 interactions between 12 plants, including tomato, adjacent crops such as papaya and pumpkin, and ruderal species, and 11 floral visitors, fundamentally bees, with 5 species involved. Tomato flowers were almost exclusively visited by the bee species Exomalopsis pulchella, capable of buzz pollination. Species of the genus Exomalopsis are frequent pollinators of tomato in the Neotropic. This denotes a temporary specialization in the use of tomato´s floral resources by Exomalopsis pulchella. Apis mellifera was not detected visiting tomato flowers, despite being present in the pollination network associated with the studied agroecosystem. Pollination significantly increased the dimensions of tomato fruits. Exomalopsis pulchella also visited the ruderal plants Asteraceae sp., Commelinaceae sp. and Milleria quinqueflora. This should be taken into account in the management of the ruderal plant communities that surround the tomato fields, in order to promote and guarantee the presence of the main pollinator of this crop.