Larval hosts of Uresiphita Hubner (Crambidae)

A survey of the literature and museum collections of Uresiphita indicates larval hosts are primarily quinolizidirie-bearing plants in tribes of the Fabaceae. Three species, Uresiphita reversalis, U. ornithopteralis and U. polygonalis, were collected from seven genera in the Genisteae (Chamaecytisus, Genista, Lupinus, Spartium, Laburnum, Ulex and Cytisus) and from three genera in the Sophoreae (Sophora, Pericopsis and Bolusanthus). Two species, U. reversalis and U. polygonalis, were collected from three genera in the Thermopsidae (Baptisia, Anagyris and Piptanthus) and two, U. reversalis and U. ornithopteralis, were collected from two genera in the Bossiaceeae (Hovea and Templetonia). A few legume species that are not known to bear quinolizidine alkaloids were also reported. In particular, U. reversalis, U. polygonalis, and U. ornithopteralis were each collected from Acacia (Mimosaceae) in areas as widely distributed as Australia and the United States (California, Texas and Hawaii). This is a consistent anomaly in the overall host-use pattern. Other nonleguminous species have been reported but are probably not indicative of hosts upon which development may be completed.