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Asota
plana Walker
Asota plana Walker, 1854, List Specimens
lepid. Insects Colln.
Br. Mus. 2: 450.
Asota plana Walker; Holloway, 1976: 5; Barlow, 1982: 76.
Diagnosis. This and the next species have broad white wedges in the forewings. That
in plana is more irregular, with an almost detached or detached white
spot distal to the disc; this spot is confluent with the wedge in albiformis.
In plana the harpe is large, diagnostically bifid.
Taxonomic notes. There are a number of synonyms and named races of plana. Bornean
material is referable to ssp. albitera Felder, described from Sulawesi.
Geographical range. Oriental tropics east to New Guinea.
Habitat preference. This species is infrequent, perhaps most often
encountered at around 1000m but ranging from the lowlands to 1900m.
Biology. The larva and pupa were illustrated by Horsfield & Moore (1858-9).
The larva is blackish, with each segment ringed posteriorly with pale yellow.
The prothorax and anterior of the mesothorax are more broadly pale yellow
(reddish in Sri Lankan larva preserved in the BMNH and in illustration in Sugi
(1987)). The primary setae are long. The host-plant was given as Ficus (Moraceae).
Bell (MS) made similar observations on the southern Indian race, recording it
from several Ficus species. The eggs are laid in batches and the larvae
are gregarious. The larvae feed on young leaves when small but take older ones
when larger. They rest on the underside of the leaf.
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