Miscellaneous Genera VI
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Lithosiopsis rectigramma Hampson comb. n. 
Codonodes rectigramma Hampson, 1907, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 17: 667.

 


Lithosiopsis rectigramma

 
Diagnosis. Both this and the next species have the generic feature of the biarcuate, pale, forewing submarginal with dark blocks in the spaces basad over the dorsal half of the fascia. However, papuana Hampson is larger, its forewing more uniform, and with the pale postmedial obtusely angled centrally rather than curved subcostally. In rectigramma the fasciation of the forewing is more evident, all fasciae basal to the postmedial showing a similar curvature to it.

Taxonomic note. C. louisiada Hampson may be a synonym, but the unique holotype lacks an abdomen.

Geographical range. India, Sri Lanka, Borneo, ?New Guinea (Louisiade Is.; louisiada).

Habitat preference. Bornean material seen consists of three specimens: 150m in hill dipterocarp forest on G. Mulu; 250m in dipterocarp forest on the lower slopes of the limestone G. Api; 100m on a roadside in secondary forest near the Danum Valley Field Centre in Sabah. See also the next species.

Biology. The life history has been recorded in India by Bell (MS). The larva is cylindrical, with a distinct neck, the head only slightly narrower than T1 and T2. The prolegs on A3 are absent and those on A4 are reduced. The head is orange, but its setae are based on conspicuous black spots. The body is ‘enamel’ white, grey on the side and green ventrally. The primary setae also arise from large black spots, and there is an indistinct yellow band in the region of the spiracles, most obvious just above them. The black spots coalesce dorsally on A9 and at the extremity of A10, the latter with green at its apex.

The larvae stretch out on the underside of leaves. They pupate in a slight silken cell in the folded edge of a leaf. The pupa squirms and rolls in this cell when it is touched.

The host plant is usually
Pongamia, but the larva has also been found on Derris, both Leguminosae.

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