Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of the French Antilles
Introduction
There is no catalogue dealing with the Lepidoptera of the French Antilles, nor general book to identify them,
except for the book by R. Pinchon and P. Enrico (1969) "Faune des Antilles Françaises", which
gave an exhaustive description of butterflies and Sphingidae.
From 1980 to 1986, two of the authors (J. le Duchat d'Aubigny and B. Lalanne-Cassou) worked in Guadeloupe
on pest management programmes (Station de Zoologie et Lutte Biologique of INRA at Petit-Bourg).
Their work was focused on pest moths of maize (Spodoptera frugiperda), including potential pests that may
appear in the case of an intensive development of new cultivars. Their investigations led them to
survey many poorly known or undescribed species, following the work iniatiated by J.-C. Malausa.
This catalogue summarizes these six years of Lepidoptera sampling in Guadeloupe and the French West Indies.
Three methods were used to catch Lepidoptera:
Occasional catches were performed in many sites in Guadeloupe,
and in far less sites in Martinique and neighbouring islands. The insects were attracted by mercury vapour lamps
powered by a generating unit, and the moths were caught by hand on a white cloth from dusk to dawn.
This method gave fresh specimens that were prepared for collection. The catches were frequently focused
toward poorly known species, or species missing in collections. Some reference collections have been
made at the INRA Centre in Guadeloupe,
at the INRA Centre in Versailles, and some voucher specimens were deposited
in Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris and British
Museum in London.
A mercury vapour lamp worked permanently at author's home (Hauteurs-Lézarde, Petit-Bourg),
on a woody hill above the river La Lézarde.
Automatic light traps were set up in Guadeloupe from January 1983 to December 1985.
The traps ("Ellisco traps") used 4 actinic fluorescent tubes powered by a car battery, with a collector containing
cotton wool impregnated with ethyl acetate. The moths were collected in the morning, then sorted, identified
and counted (Sphingidae, Notodontidae, Arctiidae and Noctuidae) in the laboratory. This allowed us to
present quantitative data (see below Analysis of data). Most of the identifications
involved an examination of genitalic structures, since this trapping method gives generally worn specimens.
For Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae and Arctiidae,
we used the reference collection made by the former entomologists (J. Bonfils, A. Delplanque, J.-C. Malausa) at
INRA in Petit-Bourg. This collection allowed us to make a monthly survey on four sites. Species that were missing in this
collection were sent to specialists (C. Lemaire for Saturniidae, J. Haxaire for Sphingidae, P. Thiaucourt for Notodontidae,
H. de Toulgoët for Arctiidae) who verified our own identifications.
For the Noctuidae, we continued the INRA collection and made a
reference collection of genitalia. The unknown species were numbered, then identified during stays
in Museums (see the page "Noctuidae").
For the Geometridae, we made a collection of numbered specimens,
which was given to C. Herbulot, who identified the moths and described many new taxa.
There was no quantitative survey for this family.
The quantitative data presented in this catalogue are drawn from automatic trappings performed in four sites
of Guadeloupe from January 1983 to December 1985:
Devarieux, near Saint-François in Grande Terre (xerophilic zone on calcareous ground).
Piton de Sainte-Rose (alt. 357 m), mesophilic forest, close to hygrophilic forest and
xerophilic forest on volcanic ground (Leeward coast).
Route forestière de Grosse Montagne (alt. 280 m), behind the INRA station at Duclos, Petit Bourg
(limit between hygrophilic and mesophilic forest).
Morne à Louis (alt 743 m) below the TV station in a hygrophilic forest zone.
Trapping was generally performed once a month (three times a month in Devarieux), during one night
(sum of nights: Devarieux=99, Grosse Montagne=29, Morne à Louis=33, Sainte Rose=28).
The monthly abundance of Sphingidae, Notodontidae, Arctiidae and Noctuidae is shown on histograms,
it was calculated as follows:
the number of catches was cumulated per site
for each month, then divided by the number of trapping nights for this month. The mean of the 4 sites
per month appears on the histograms, if more than 30 moths were caught during three years.
The frequency of species per site was obtained by dividing the total number of moths caught at a given site
by the number of trapping nights at this site for 3 years. These frequencies are shown on the maps for all species
caught in Guadeloupe, as black numbers and blue pictograms. The frequencies may be compared between
sites for a given species, but it is hazardous to compare the frequencies between species, because the
attractiveness of light traps may vary (see the hawk-moth Pseudosphinx tetrio
, common everywhere but always rare at traps).
Adult Lepidoptera
The images shown in the catalogue represent specimens collected in the Antilles between 1980
and 1986 by J. le Duchat d'Aubigny and B. Lalanne-Cassou (unless otherwise stated).
The images are made by direct capture with a tri-CCD video camera
(JVC KY 50) equipped with a macrophotographic lens (Micro-Nikkor 60 mm f:2.8).
The camera is connected to a micro computer (Apple Macintosh Quadra 650)
with a RGB digitizing card (Image Grabber 24). This system allows to catch images (768 x 576 pixels) in 24 bit colours.
To limit the shadows, the specimen is pinned at the top of a glass rod (12 cm in length) above a grey background
(dark grey for light specimens). The background is placed at the center of a photographic copy stand,
lit by four incandescent bulbs (150 W each).
The images are then retouched with Adobe Photoshop software (drawing of the scale bar) and reduced
to be suitable for the catalogue (400 pixels wide for the main image, 250 pixels for other images). The high
magnification images that are used to enhance some details are obtained with the same system.
Genitalia
The genitalia of Noctuidae were prepared by B. Lalanne-Cassou from specimens collected in the Antilles.
The pieces were dissected and included on microscopic slides in Canadian balsam or Euparal. The genitalia
of Geometridae and Notodontidae were prepared by C. Herbulot and P. Thiaucourt.
The images (Noctuidae and Geometridae) were taken with the video camera equipped with a macrolens
for preparations wider than 3 mm. For the smallest genitalia, the video camera was placed on a microscope
(Leitz Laborlux D) equipped with a photographic tube (magnifications 25 x and 40 x).
The genitalia of Notodontidae were prepared by P. Thiaucourt, the images of the catalogue
being scanned from colour prints.
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