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Rhombophylla
edentata Hampson comb. n.
Epiplema edentata Hampson, 1895, Fauna Br. India, Moths, 3:125.
Diagnosis. The wing shape and obliquely banded grey and white fades are
unmistakable.
Geographical range. India, Thailand, Borneo, Java.
Habitat preference. Only two specimens have been taken in Borneo, both
from lowland dipterocarp forest: at the Danum Valley Field Centre, Sabah; at the
Kuala Belalong Field Centre, Ulu Temburong, Brunei.
Biology. The species has been reared in India by Bell (MS). Bell described the
larva as 'a featureless, grubby, small, thin-skinned little thing of
cylindrical shape'. It is pale violet, shaded greenish and with a yellowish
tinge. The spiracles are ringed black. The pupa is claviform, dumpy, with eight
short, fine, hooked shaftlets on the cremaster.
The larvae feed gregariously in rows on the edges of leaves and fall off
easily if disturbed. Pupation is in a cell consisting of a filigree network of
yellow silks between leaves, on the ground or in a crevice.
The host-plants are Olea and Linociera (Oleaceae).
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