The temperature dependence of the hydrogen-tritium and deuterium-hydrogen exchange reactions in poly(DL-alanine) has been reexamined. The results indicate a significant contribution to the observed exchange rates from the water-catalyzed reaction at pD values near pDmin. The activation enthalpy for water-catalyzed deuterium-hydrogen exchange in poly(DL-alanine) is found to be 21 kcal mol-1. As a result, the contribution to the observed exchange rate from the water-catalyzed reaction increases with increasing temperature which in turn leads to broad, shallow pD minima and the appearance of apparent reaction orders with respect to [D+] and [OD-] that are substantially less than first order over an extended range of pD values. The importance of water catalysis in protein hydrogen exchange is demonstrated by a reanalysis of data for the exchange of single protons in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor [Hilton, B.D., & Woodward, C. K. (1979) Biochemistry 18, 5834; Richarz, R., Sehr, P., Wagner, G., & Wüthrich, K. (1979) J. Mol. Biol. 130, 19]. The pD dependence of these protons can be explained in terms of an increased contribution from water catalysis.

Traps baited with two types of chemical feeding attractants yielded 97 species of macrolepidoptera at three areas in Alaska (Fairbanks, Delta Junction, and Palmer). These were 16 geometrid, 1 thyatirid, and 76 noctuid moth species and 4 species of nymphalid butterflies. Potential crop pests trapped included Apamea devastator (Brace) (glassy cutworm), Xestia c-nigrum L. (spotted cutworm), Xestia smithii (Snellen) (Smith's dart), Euxoa ochrogaster (Guenée) (redbacked cutworm), and Discestra trifolii (Hufnagel) (clover cutworm). The clover cutworm was captured early in the season (May into June), while Smith's dart, glassy cutworm, spotted cutworm, and redbacked cutworm were captured in traps in mid to late summer. Many more species and greater numbers of moths were captured in traps baited with acetic acid and 3-methyl-1-butanol than in traps baited with a multicomponent floral lure (phenylacetaldehyde, methyl salicylate, methyl-2-methoxy benzoate, and β-myrcene). However, most of the geometrid moths captured (12 of 16 species) were in floral lure traps, while one species of Hadeninae (Noctuidae) and both species of Plusiinae (Noctuidae) were trapped exclusively in floral lure traps. The one thyatirid, both Catocalinae noctuid species, and most Amphipyrinae, Cuculliinae, Hadeninae, and Noctuinae noctuid species were captured in traps baited with acetic acid and 3-methyl-1-butanol. In addition, large numbers of bumblebees were captured in traps baited with the floral lure, while large numbers of yellowjackets were captured in traps baited with acetic acid and 3-methyl-1-butanol.

Feeding attractants for moths are useful as survey tools to assess moth species diversity and for monitoring of the relative abundance of certain pest species. We assessed the relative breadth of attractiveness of two such lures to moths, at sites with varied habitats during 2006. Eighty-six of the 114 species of Lepidoptera captured were in traps baited with acetic acid plus 3-methyl-1-butanol (AAMB), a moth lure that is based on the odor chemistry of fermented molasses baits. Fifty-two of the 114 species were trapped with a floral odorant lure comprised of phenylacetaldehyde, β-myrcene, methyl salicylate, and methyl-2-methoxy benzoate. Preference for one lure type was statistically supported for 10 species of moths: seven to the AAMB lure and three to the floral lure. To gain better information on lure preference, 10 pairs of traps baited with the same lures were maintained in a single habitat type (riparian) during 2008. Sixty-eight of 89 species captured were in traps baited with AAMB, and 43 were in traps baited with the floral lure. Preference for a lure type was statistically supported for 39 of the 89 species of moths trapped; 32 to the AAMB lure and seven to the floral lure. Both of these lures hold advantages for trapping different types of moths, and both lures might be used in a complementary way to sample moth biodiversity.

Climate change has caused shifts in the phenology and distributions of many species but comparing responses across species is challenged by inconsistencies in the methodology and taxonomic and temporal scope of individual studies. Natural history collections offer a rich source of data for examining phenological shifts for a large number of species. We paired specimen records from Pacific Northwest insect collections to climate data to analyze the responses of 215 moth species to interannual climate variation over a period of 119 years (1895–2013) during which average annual temperatures have increased in the region. We quantified the effects of late winter/early spring temperatures, averaged annually across the region, on dates of occurrence of adults, taking into account the effects of elevation, latitude, and longitude. We assessed whether species-specific phenological responses varied with adult flight season and larval diet breadth. Collection dates were significantly earlier in warmer years for 36.3% of moth species, and later for 3.7%. Species exhibited an average phenological advance of 1.9 days/°C, but species-specific shifts ranged from an advance of 10.3 days/°C to a delay of 10.6 days/°C. More spring-flying species shifted their phenology than summer- or fall-flying species. These responses did not vary among groups defined by larval diet breadth. The highly variable phenological responses to climate change in Pacific Northwest moths agree with other studies on Lepidoptera and suggest that it will remain difficult to accurately forecast which species and ecological interactions are most likely to be affected by climate change. Our results also underscore the value of natural history collections as windows into long-term ecological trends.

The genus Aseptis McDunnough (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Xylenini, Xylenina) is revised to include 15 species based on morphological and molecular data. Several new synonymies are introduced. In addition, two genera are described because of significant morphological differences from Aseptis: Paraseptis gen. n., and Viridiseptis gen. n., resulting in the new combinations Paraseptis adnixa (Grote), comb. n., and Viridiseptis marina (Grote), comb. n. Although this work is primarily based on morphological data, DNA sequence data for the 658-base pair “barcode” segment of the mitochondrial gene for subunit 1 of cytochrome c oxidase was used as a secondary support for taxonomic changes within Aseptis and for the two new genera. Our work should provide clarity and stability in a previously difficult genus.