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Savara
latimargo Walker
Gonitis
latimargo Walker,
[1858] 1857, List
Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 13: 1002.
Gonitis
brunnea Moore,
1882, Descr.
new Indian lepid. Insects Colln W.S. Atkinson, 2: 153, syn.
n.
Zethes variabilis Pagenstecher, 1888, Jb.
nassau Ver. Naturk.,
43: 54, syn.
n.
Savara longipectinata Prout, 1922, Bull.
Hill Mus. Witley, 1: 241, syn. n.
Savara catortha Hampson, 1926, Descr.
Gen. Spec. Noctuinae, p. 344, syn. n.
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Savara
latimargo 
(Philippines) |
Savara
latimargo
(Philippines) |
Diagnosis.
This is a somewhat larger and browner species than its congeners, slightly paler
on the upperside and more so on the underside where the postmedial fasciae are
diagnostically darker, and lunulate in each space. The submarginal at the
forewing apex is an arc of black dashes, usually with white highlighting on its
distal side. The forewing postmedial above is straighter than in other species,
particularly in the female and in material from Sundaland eastwards. The male
abdomen has a distinctly square invagination to the anterior margin of the
eighth sternite, and the valve of the genitalia is expanded apically to appear
squarely bilobed. In the female, the base of the ductus is sclerotised and
tubular over a greater extent than in congeners, with a strong, tongue-shaped
excavation in the ventral margin of the ostium.
Taxonomic
note. The type material in BMNH of both latimargo
and
brunnea
is
from India, but is lacking abdomina. Specimens from Burma (slides 19344 and
19345) are taken to represent the species. These specimens share the diagnostic
features described above with the Australasian variabilis Pagenstecher.
This was placed in its genus of original description by Poole (1989), but was
assigned to Savara by Edwards in Nielsen et
al. (1996),
with longipectinata
and
catortha
as
synonyms. The female (slide 18738) included in type material of longipectinata
is
in fact referable to pratti (see above). The larval description by Bell below was
attributed to brunnea,
and it is evident from Australasian material labelled as brunnea
in
his collection in BMNH that his identification was probably correct, though
voucher specimens for the rearing have not been located.
Geographical
range. India, Burma, Borneo, Philippines, Sulawesi, Moluccas to
Queensland and Solomons.
Habitat
preference. The only Bornean specimen seen is a female from Samarinda in
the lowlands of Kalimantan.
Biology.
The larva in India was reared by Bell (MS). The prolegs on A3 are considerably
reduced, those on A4 slightly so. The anal claspers splay out behind. Early
instars are elongate, transparent white, with obscure darker spots laterally on
each segment. Later instars are olive-green, marked with pale purple and with
the setae arising from black dots. The mature larva is lightish brown, each
black setal dot ringed with white. There is a pale dorsal line that has short
lateral branches near the anterior margin of each segment; there are obscure
paler patches outside this line, and more obscure patching and lineation on the
flanks.
The eggs
are pale bluish green, flattened, dome-shaped, with 50 shallow ribs linked by
numerous fine cross-rays. Pupation is in a cell between two leaves of the host
plant. The pupa lacks a powdery bloom. The larvae were reared on Grewia
(Tiliaceae),
but Bell suspected it was not the natural host. The species has been reared from
Sterculia
(Sterculiaceae)
in New Guinea (Miller et al., unpublished).
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