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In managed ecosystems, cultivated plant diversity is a collection of native and introduced species composed of varying plant origins across scales: locally native, non‐locally native, and non‐native. Non‐local and non‐native plant species may be ill‐suited as host plants for locally native insects. Yet, we lack information on the population‐ and individual‐level consequences of introduced plants to phytophagous insects. Promethea moth (Callosamia promethea) is a Lepidopteran species regionally specialized to Prunus in the Northeastern United States. Here, we used a rearing experiment to compare Promethea caterpillar performance on 14 different Prunus host plants commonly found naturally and in horticulture and two non‐hosts. Across all measures, Prunus serotina supported the highest survival, fastest growth, and largest larval biomass. We found little difference between locally native and non‐local Prunus across most measures; however, few non‐native Prunus supported living larvae to the fifth instar, and surviving larvae had reduced growth and biomass. Our results indicate that non‐native congeners are poor replacements for locally native tree species in supporting specialized Lepidoptera. However, non‐local, regionally native species in cultivation may serve as adequate, albeit suboptimal, host plants. These results further our understanding of how selection for plant traits or species impacts biodiversity in novel and managed ecosystems.

The giant silk moth Callosamia promethea (Promethea Moth) overwinters as pupae in cocoons spun in hanging leaves. Even though they are camouflaged, moths at this developmental stage are vulnerable to parasitism and predation, both of which are relevant to local population abundance and persistence. Our study documented the fates of overwintering Promethea Moths near Weld, ME, during 7 winters from 1997 to 2017. Our collection and dissection of 923 cocoons revealed that moth emergence declined from 47% to 10% over the study period. Parasitism by 2 native species of ichneumonid wasp (Gambrus nuncius and Enicospilus americanus) was the dominant cause of mortality, accounting for 59% of Promethea Moth pupal death. Predation accounted for less than 4% of mortality. Our results provide evidence of parasitism as a major contributor to mortality of Promethea Moth pupae.

The promethea moth Callosamia promethea is one of three species of silkmoths from the genus Callosamia that occur in North America. Cross attraction of males to heterospecific calling females has been observed in the field, and hybrid progeny have been produced by pairing heterospecifics in captivity. These observations suggest that all three species share or have considerable overlap in the sex attractant pheromones produced by females, so that other prezygotic isolating mechanisms, such as diel differences in reproductive activity, limit hybridization in the field. Coupled gas chromatography-electroantennogram detection and gas chromatography- mass-spectrometry analyses of extracts of volatiles collected from female promethea moths supported the identification of (4 E ,6 E ,11 Z ,13 Z )-hexadeca-4,6,11,13-tetraenal [(4 E ,6 E ,11 Z ,13 Z )-16:Ald] as the compound in extracts that elicited the largest responses from antennae of males. The identification was confirmed by non-selective synthesis of several isomers as analytical standards, and stereoselective synthesis of (4 E ,6 E ,11 Z ,13 Z )-16:Ald for testing in field trials. Male moths were strongly attracted to synthetic (4 E ,6 E ,11 Z ,13 Z )-16:Ald, suggesting that this compound is the major and possibly the only component of the sex pheromone of these large saturniid moths. Based on the cross-attraction of heterospecifics, it is likely that this is also a major pheromone component of the other two North American Callosamia species as well.

Damage to nontarget (native) invertebrates from biological control introductions is rarely documented. We examined the nontarget effects of a generalist parasitoid fly, Compsilura concinnata (Diptera: Tachinidae), that has been introduced repeatedly to North America from 1906 to 1986 as a biological control agent against 13 pest species. We tested the effect of previously established populations of this fly on two native, nontarget species of moths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), Hyalophora cecropia and Callosamia promethea, in Massachusetts forests. We estimated survivorship curves for newly hatched H. cecropia larvae (n = 500), placed five per tree in the field and found no survival beyond the fifth instar. We simultaneously deployed cohorts (n = 100) of each of the first three instars to measure the effect of parasitoids during each stage of development. C. concinnata was responsible for 81% of H. cecropia mortality in the first three instars. We deployed semigregarious C. promethea in aggregations of 1-100 larvae in the field and recorded high rates of parasitism by C. concinnata among C. promethea larvae exposed for 6 days (69.8%) and 8 days (65.6%). We discovered a wild population of a third species of silk moth, the state-listed (threatened) saturniid Hemileuca maia maia, and found that C. concinnata was responsible for 36% (n = 50) mortality in the third instar. Our results suggest that reported declines of silk moth populations in New England may be caused by the importation and introduction of C. concinnata.

For Danielle Allen, punishment is more a window onto democratic Athens' fundamental values than simply a set of official practices. From imprisonment to stoning to refusal of burial, instances of punishment in ancient Athens fueled conversations among ordinary citizens and political and literary figures about the nature of justice. Re-creating in vivid detail the cultural context of this conversation, Allen shows that punishment gave the community an opportunity to establish a shining myth of harmony and cleanliness: that the city could be purified of anger and social struggle, and perfect order achieved. Each member of the city--including notably women and slaves--had a specific role to play in restoring equilibrium among punisher, punished, and society. The common view is that democratic legal processes moved away from the \"emotional and personal\" to the \"rational and civic,\" but Allen shows that anger, honor, reciprocity, spectacle, and social memory constantly prevailed in Athenian law and politics. Allen draws upon oratory, tragedy, and philosophy to present the lively intellectual climate in which punishment was incurred, debated, and inflicted by Athenians. Broad in scope, this book is one of the first to offer both a full account of punishment in antiquity and an examination of the political stakes of democratic punishment. It will engage classicists, political theorists, legal historians, and anyone wishing to learn more about the relations between institutions and culture, normative ideas and daily events, punishment and democracy.

El objetivo de este trabajo es explorar la intersección entre esoterismo y mito en la obra Promethea de Alan Moore. Partiré de una aproximación a lo que consideramos «esoterismo», para seguir con una exposición sobre las características del hermetismo y su legado, vitales para comprender la obra de Moore. Finalmente, analizaré la conclusión de la obra para entender cómo se produce la interacción entre mito y esoterismo.

Promethea (Callosamia promethea) and tulip tree silk moths (C. angulifera) were compared under semi-natural conditions for the presence of polyandry. Promethea were polyandrous, the first documentation for a saturniid moth, whereas tulip tree moths were monandrous. Experiments showed that polyandrous and monandrous promethea females achieved similar egg fertility, but polyandrous females laid 10% more eggs, a significant difference (P < 0.05). This difference was found in five sibling groups, whose larvae were reared on the same individual food plant. Higher fecundity for polyandrous promethea females was not related to female size, duration of copulation, egg size and number, number of days in laying period or sibling group. Egg size declined later in the laying period for all females. Small females laid more eggs earlier in the laying period than large females. A separate mark/recapture study showed that male promethea also mate multiple times (polygyny) and distinguish virgin from nonvirgin females in mating preference. The diurnally mating promethea may gain increased genetic variability and/or possibly seminal gifts from polyandry. Monandry in totally nocturnal saturniid moths may result from a time conflict between egg laying and mating, which overrides the benefits of polyandry. If polyandry increases fecundity, it is predicted to occur in other diurnally mating saturniids.

: Damage to nontarget (native) invertebrates from biological control introductions is rarely documented. We examined the nontarget effects of a generalist parasitoid fly, Compsilura concinnata ( Diptera: Tachinidae), that has been introduced repeatedly to North America from 1906 to 1986 as a biological control agent against 13 pest species. We tested the effect of previously established populations of this fly on two native, nontarget species of moths ( Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), Hyalophora cecropia and Callosamia promethea, in Massachusetts forests. We estimated survivorship curves for newly hatched H. cecropia larvae (n = 500), placed five per tree in the field and found no survival beyond the fifth instar. We simultaneously deployed cohorts (n = 100) of each of the first three instars to measure the effect of parasitoids during each stage of development. C. concinnata was responsible for 81% of H. cecropia mortality in the first three instars. We deployed semigregarious C. promethea in aggregations of 1–100 larvae in the field and recorded high rates of parasitism by C. concinnata among C. promethea larvae exposed for 6 days (69.8%) and 8 days (65.6%). We discovered a wild population of a third species of silk moth, the state‐listed (threatened) saturniid Hemileuca maia maia, and found that C. concinnata was responsible for 36% (n = 50) mortality in the third instar. Our results suggest that reported declines of silk moth populations in New England may be caused by the importation and introduction of C. concinnata. Resumen: Raras veces se ha documentado el daño ocasionado por la introducción de especies para control biológico sobre especies de invertebrados que no son el blanco del control. En este trabajo examinamos los efectos colaterales de la introducción repetida en Norteamérica de la mosca parasitoide generalista Compsilura concinnata ( Diptera: Tachinidae) entre 1906 y 1986, usada como agente de control biológico contra 13 especies de plaga. Evaluamos los efectos de poblaciones previamente establecidas de esta mosca en bosques de Massachusetts sobre dos especies nativas de polillas ( Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), Hyalophora cecropia y Callosamia promethea que no eran blanco del control. Estimamos curvas de supervivencia de larvas recién eclosionadas de H. cecropia ( n = 500), colocadas a razón de 5 por árbol en el campo de estudio y no logramos detectar sobrevivientes más allá de la quinta muda. Simultáneamente, desplegamos cohortes ( n = 100) de cada una de las primeras tres etapas de desarrollo para medir el efecto del parasitoide en cada estadio de desarrollo. C. concitan fue responsable de un 81% de la mortalidad de H. cecropia en los primeros tres estadios. También desplegamos conglomerados de 1‐100 larvas de la semigregaria C. promethea y estimamos altas tasas de parasitismo por C. concinata en las larvas de C. promethea expuestas por 6 días ( 69.8%) y por ocho días ( 65.6%). Descubrimos una población silvestre de una tercera población de polilla de seda Saturniina (   Hemileuca maia maia) clasificada en el registro estatal como especie amenazada, y encontramos que C. concinata fue responsable de un 36% de la mortalidad (n = 50) en el tercer estadio. Nuestros resultados sugieren que las disminuciones reportadas de poblaciones de polillas de seda en Nueva Inglaterra pueden deberse a la importación e introducción de C. concinata.

Having addressed how sovereignty seeks to secure an identity by policing its kinship structure, in this chapter I would like to return to the spectre that haunts sovereignty, and has done so in this study since the opening chapter, namely the ‘nothingness’ out of which Carl Schmitt (2005: 32) claimed the sovereign’s legitimacy arises. Although Schmitt tried to fill this void with the divine presence of God, the Father, this only masked the fact that something limitless and potentially abyssal lies at the foundation of sovereignty. What if, rather than supporting a defined political identity and its symbolic authority, this

The effects of tannins on survival, growth, and digestion were compared in two polyphagous species of Lepidoptera (one, the southern armyworm, a forb-feeder; and the other, the promethea silkmoth, a tree-feeder). Two different types of tannins (hydrolyzable and condensed) were incorporated into artificial basal diets in order to determine whether or not differential survival and growth would result between the forb feeder, which normally does not encounter tannins in its natural diet, and the tree-feeder, whose host species include many tanniniferous plants from several different families. Neonate larvae of the forb-feeding armyworms exhibited significantly suppressed 10-day growth rates at all tannin concentrations tested (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0% of wet weight) for both the hydrolyzable and the condensed tannin compared to the control diet, however no dose-effect was detectable. In contrast, there were no detectable differences in neonate survival or growth through the first 10 days for the tree-feeding promethea silkmoth larvae fed diets with either tannic acid or quebracho tree condensed tannin. In order to determine the physiological mechanisms of action of these tannins against armyworms, we conducted detailed physiological bioassays of biomass and nitrogen utilization by penultimate instar larvae. Standard gravimetric feeding studies with both tannic acid and the quebracho tree condensed tannin demonstrated that reduced relative growth rates (RGR's) of Spodoptera eridania Cram. were due to the suppressed relative consumption rates (RCR's) and decreased conversion efficiencies (ECD's) rather than due to digestibility-reduction (as reflected by approximate digestibility, AD). As with the neonate larval growth rate suppression, there were no detectable dose responses at the different concentrations of tannic acid (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 2.50, and 5.0 percent) and condensed tannins from quebracho (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, and 2.5 percent) in our penultimate instar studies.