INSECT SAMPLING AND

Kergoat, Gael J., Toussaint, Emmanuel F. A., Capdevielle-Dulac, Claire, Clamens, Anne-Laure, Ong, George, Amo, Conlong, Desmond, Berg, Johnnie Van Den, Cugala, Domingos, Pallangyo, Beatrice, Mubenga, Onesime, Chipabika, Gilson, Ndemah, Rose, Sezonlin, Michel, Bani, Gregoire, Molo, Richard, Ali, Abdalla, Calatayud, Paul-Andre, Kaiser, Laure, Silvain, Jean-Francois & Ru, Bruno Le, 2015, Integrative taxonomy reveals six new species related to the Mediterranean corn stalk borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Sesamiina), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175 (2), pp. 244-270 : 246

INSECT SAMPLING AND ECOLOGICAL DATA

Larvae were collected from maize crops in France, Italy and Turkey, and from sugar cane crops in Iran. In sub- Saharan Africa, sampling of monocotyledon plants exhibiting symptoms of stem-borer damage was conducted over eight years (2006–2013) to collect larval stages of stem borers within their host plants ( Le Ru et al., 2006a,b). The countries surveyed included Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Larvae were reared on an artificial diet ( Onyango & Ochieng’Odero, 1994) until pupation. In addition, several adults were collected with light traps set up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo and Zambia. All sampling was conducted in agreement with local insect collection permits or local regulations.

Ecological data for this study are based on 5470 specimens collected in 17 countries and 175 localities. We also used additional information from the literature for S. nonagrioides ( Le Ru et al., 2006a; Moyal et al., 2011c). For the majority of sampled specimens, reliable host–plant associations were determined by rearing larvae from monocotyledon plants. Habitats were categorized following White (1983).

Adult specimens were kept dry and prepared as vouchers for museum collections. Genitalia of the adults were dissected after quick immersion in a hot 10% KOH aqueous solution to enable species identification.