Gracillariidae leaf miners include 1987 species of poorly studied micromoths for which the majority of the diversity has been described from temperate regions. The Neotropics harbors one of the richest faunas of Gracillariidae, but the rate of taxon descriptions has been slow because of limited sampling and taxonomic activity. In this illustrated catalogue, we provide, for the first time, 476 high resolution illustrations for the 201 species of named gracillariids occurring in the region and revise their classification, newly considering the family-group names Oecophyllembiini stat. nov., Marmarini stat. nov., and Parornichini stat. nov. as tribes of Phyllocnistinae, in the first two cases and Gracillariinae in the last case respectively. Two species, Sauterina hexameris (Meyrick, 1921) comb. nov. and S. phiaropis (Meyrick, 1921) comb. nov., are transferred to Sauterina from Gracillaria. By making taxonomic, distributional, molecular and biological data available in a concise form, we aim to facilitate taxonomic work on Neotropical gracillariids, and in turn to enhance studies in general on poorly studied organisms such as parasitoids from this biogeographical region.

Vallissiana universitaria Pereira & Arévalo, a new genus and species of leaf-miner moth (Gracillariidae: Gracillariinae) is described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy, including adults, larva, pupa and the mine. Its monophyletic status is confirmed within the subfamily based on a DNA barcode CoI tree. The immature stages are associated with Erythroxylum argentinum O. E. Schulz (Erythroxylaceae) and four larval instars are found, all forming a round blotch mine from the beginning of ontogeny. The first two instars are sap-feeders, using only the epidermal cells, whereas the last two are tissue-feeders, mining the parenchyma cells. Pupation occurs inside the leaf mine within a flimsy, silk-made cocoon. This is the third endemic genus of gracillariid moths described from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and the first associated with Erythroxylum P. Browne. Characteristics found on the forewing and in the last abdominal segments of the adult were determinant for the proposition of the new genus. The CoI tree indicated that it is closely related to Aspilapteryx, while this genus was recovered as polyphyletic in the analyses. Morphological evidence supports this polyphyly. Consequently, Sabulopteryx Triberti, 1985, stat. nov. is considered a valid genus.

Nearly a century ago, wing venation was introduced in gracillariid taxonomy as a means to diagnose closely related genera and species groups. Recent advances in non-destructive virtual micro-dissections suggest promising approaches with which to revisit the relevance of wing venation characters on historic primary type specimens. Many unique type specimens in Gracillariidae and other microlepidoptera groups preserved in museum collections are in poor condition, and over the course of history have suffered loss or damage to their abdomens. Consequently, genitalia morphology is not available for diagnoses and comparisons. In this paper we emphasize the need to include the type species and type specimens into the broader context of taxonomic studies on micro-moths in general and the family Gracillariidae in particular. The genus Caloptilia has a world-wide distribution and has been the subject of research for more than 200 years, yet the generic boundaries and groupings within the genus are still unresolved due to the lack of a reliable set of taxonomic characters obtained from the primary types. We describe a method of virtual descaling of the fore- and hindwings using the unset micro-moth type specimen of Caloptilia stigmatella Fabricius, 1781, in order to demonstrate that the study of historic and fragile type specimens and diagnoses of their internal morphological characters becomes possible by applying new and non-destructive technology.

Las plantas transgénicas con genes de Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) que codifican para la producción de toxinas, eficaces contra algunas plagas, son consideradas útiles dentro del manejo de insectos. Sin embargo, estas variedades no controlan satisfactoriamente a todos los noctuidos plagas y, además, inducen a su resistencia. Se evaluaron diversas poblaciones de variantes locales de Heliothis virescens, Helicoverpa zea, Spodoptera frugiperda y S. sunia para conocer su susceptibilidad a la toxina Cry1Ac de la variedad Bollgard® sembrada en Colombia. El Cry1Ac, se obtuvo de un gene de Bt clonado en Escherichia coli y de MVP® (protoxina encapsulada en Pseudomonas). Se expusieron larvas neonatas a dosis seriadas incorporadas a dieta merídica y, también, alimentadas con tejido fresco de algodón transgénico. Se determinó el peso de larvas y pupas sobrevivientes y la emergencia de los adultos. Los resultados, se sometieron a ANAVA y las concentraciones letales (CL) se obtuvieron mediante análisis Probit. Se encontró una aceptable susceptibilidad de H. virescens, CL50  de 3,52 y 3,81 g/mL, en los periodos 2005A y 2006A respectivamente, y un 100% de mortalidad al alimentar las neonatas con hojas terminales. La CL50 para H. zea varió entre 3,42 y 6,12 g/mL; a medida que aumentaba la dosis de la toxina disminuía el peso y se obtuvo un alto porcentaje de pupas deformes. Para Spodoptera spp., las CL50 oscilaban entre 192 y 1.178 g/mL mostrando su resistencia a la toxina. Se concluye que actualmente el algodón transgénico proporciona un control satisfactorio de los Heliothine pero no del complejo Spodoptera