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Tiracola
plagiata
Walker
Agrotis plagiata Walker, 1857, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 11:
740.
Agrotis plagifera Walker, 1857, Ibid. 11: 741.
Tiracola plagiata Walker; Holloway, 1976: 8.
Diagnosis. This
and the next species are the largest Bornean hairy-eyed trifines. The
description of the new species gives differences between it and plagiata.
Geographical
range. Indo-Australian
tropics and subtropics into the Pacific to as far east as Henderson I.
Habitat
preference. The species is found mainly in the lowlands where it is more
often concentrated in open habitats.
Biology.
The Tiracola larva was illustrated by Sugi (1987). It is smooth, with
a rather square posterior end, finely mottled dark brown except for the head and
prothorax which are red. There are irregular, creamy white patches on the flanks
over the most anterior and posterior abdominal segments. Sevastopulo (1946) made
a more detailed description. He referred to the lateral blotches as greenish-
yellow; in some individuals they may be more extensive, joined by a line of the
same colour. He described the body as black, minutely streaked and speckled with
grey, the dorsal area tinged olive. The head and legs are red-brown, the latter
ringed black. A8 is humped, with a pair of large dorsal warts. The larva has
also been described by Piepers & Snellen (1906) and Gardner (1946-1948).
There are no indications as to whether these descriptions embrace both Asian
species.
The pupa is
subterranean in a slight earthen cocoon. The cremaster is a fan of four stout
spines, with two more slender ones above.
Host-plants given
for plagiata, but which may also involve the next species, (Piepers &
Snellen; Sevastopulo; Mathur, 1942; Mathur et al., 1954-1960; Pholboon,
1965; Robinson, 1975; CIE records) are: Agave (Agavaceae); Ageratum,
Chromolaena, Emilia (Compositae); Manihot, Ricinus (Euphorbiaceae); Leucaena
(Leguminosae); Musa (Musaceae); Piper (Piperaceae); Fagraea
(Potaliaceae); Coffea (Rubiaceae); Capsicum, Nicotiana (Solanaceae);
Theobroma (Sterculiaceae); Lantana, Tectona (Verbenaceae); Elettaria
(Zingiberaceae). The range of diet is probably much wider than this. In
Peninsular Malaysia T. plagiata has been reared from Ricinus, an
association confirmed from a voucher specimen.
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