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Euthrix laeta Walker
Amydona laeta Walker, 1855, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln. Br. Mus.
6: 1416.
Philudoria laeta Walker; Lajonquière, 1978b: 391.
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Euthrix laeta
(natural
size)
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Diagnosis. The rather leaf-like forewing with the oblique postmedial
yellow patch basally on the dorsum, and large pale cream discal blotch
distinguish this species. A few specimens have the dorsal blotch pinkish
and extremes (f. fusca Lajonquière) have the discal blotch obscure also.
The species is distinguished within the genus by the valve of the male
genitalia which is separated into two long, slender, curved processes, the
dorsal very much larger than the ventral.
Geographical range. Sri Lanka (ssp. divisa Moore); India, China
(ssp.
laeta), Manchuria, Amur region (ssp. sulphurea Aurivillius); Sundaland
(ssp.
austrina Lajonquiere).
Habitat preference. In Borneo the species is infrequent in the lowlands,
taken in rainforest and coastal associations. As a grass feeder it would
also be expected to occur in open habitats.
Biology. The larva was described by Gardner (1941). The mesothorax bears a
dorso-median pencil of black setae anterior to a pale one. Segment A8 has
an erect brush of dark grey setae. Intervening segments have short dorsal
black to dark brown tufts that typically on each segment consist of
anteriorly converging but separate lines, each with four or five tufts.
The upper lateral protruberance of T1 has a diffuse pencil of black and
pale setae. The skin is dark brown, speckled with black and grey. There
are no distinct verrucae.
The species is a grass feeder and has been recorded also from Dalbergia
(Leguminosae)
(Gardner, 1941; Bell, MS; Browne, 1968).
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