This study describes the life cycle of Agrotis malefida Guenée, 1852 (Noctuidae: Noctuinae) under laboratory conditions. The insects were reared in a controlled environment (25 ± 1ºC, 70 ± 10% RH and 14 hours photo phase) and observed daily. The larvae were fed Greene's artificial diet and adults were offered a 10% sucrose solution. The viability and duration of immature stages were assessed. The experiment initiated with 2,410 eggs. Larvae were isolated shortly after hatching. Longevity, pre-, post- and oviposition, fecundity and fertility of 13 adult couples were also evaluated. The viability of eggs, larvae, pupae and pre-pupae was 96.72, 91.25, 78.37 and 95.26%, respectively. The average duration of egg, larva, pre-pupa, pupa and adult was 7.93, 54.26, 61.61, 37.43 and 12.85 days, respectively. The immature stage of A. malefida lasted an average of 161.29 days, ranging from 102 to 227 days. The life cycle of A. malefida is much longer than that of congeners. The mean fecundity was 1,696.77 eggs and fertility 1,641.15 larvae per female. Under the conditions in which the study was conducted, the biotic potential of A. malefida was of 606,666.59 individuals/female/year. The results also indicated that this species goes through larval (pre-pupae) and pupal diapause.

The life-history and biology of Dirphia araucariae Jones, 1908, including its life fertility table, are here described. Moths were reared in the laboratory under controlled conditions on their host plant, Araucaria angustifolia (Bertoloni) O. Kuntze - Araucariaceae. We describe several life-history traits of the species, namely: developmental period, survival rate, growth rate, fertility, fecundity, sex ratio, cephalic capsule width, and pupal weight. Mean duration of life stages were: egg = 26.78 days; larva = 61.78 days; prepupa = 6.85 days; pupa = 62.46 days; adult = 8.37 days. We found statistically significant differences between sexes for adult, larval and pupal stage duration; larval stage was longer in females while pupal stage was longer in males. The survival rate of each life stage was: egg = 96.18%; larva = 95.38%; prepupa = 83.87%; pupa = 100%. The larvae developed through six instars and the mean growth rate was 1.418. The width of male and female cephalic capsules were different in last three instars, even though the total mean width between sexes was not different. Pupal mean weight ranged from 2.40 g to 4.79 g, with females being heavier than males. Fertility ranged from 66.78% to 100%, and the total fecundity was 358.45 eggs/female, including both laid eggs and eggs held in the abdomen. The sex ratio was 0.50 ± 0.05. The estimated biotic potential was 48731.08 specimens/female/year. We found the following values for the fertility life table: (Ro) = 117.21 females; (T) = 162.75 days; (r m) = 0.21; (l) = 1.23. Considering the biological parameters evaluated in this study, we conclude that D. araucariae is not able to cause primary damage in A. angustifolia forests, although further studies are needed to understand the reasons for occasional population outbreaks.

The goal of this work was to describe aspects of the biology and morphology of Leucanella viridescens (Walker, 1855), a polyphytophagous species that is a pest to several crops of economical interest and whose larvae may cause erucism. Biological parameters were obtained under controlled conditions: temperature of 25 ± 1ºC, relative humidity of 70 ± 10%, and a 14 h photophase. Morphological and behavioral aspects were analyzed in each developmental phase. The larval stage had six instars, with an average growth rate of 1.396. A high degree of polyphytophagy was observed, including over 49 host plant species belonging to 25 families, especially Leguminosae, Solanaceae and Salicaceae. The considerable chromatic variability of the adults obtained from the same egg batch corroborates the need for a new taxonomic assessment of L. viridescens viridescens Walker, 1855 and L. viridescens viridior Lemaire, 1973.