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Berta
chrysolineata Walker
Berta chrysolineata
Walker, 1863, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln. Br.Mus.,26: 1621.
Euchloris leucospilota Turner,
1904, Trans Roy. Soc. S. Aust., 28: 221.
Berta fenestrata Prout, 1913, Novit. zool., 20: 439, syn.
n.
Berta chrysolineata hainanensis Prout,
1912, Gross. Schmett. Erde., 12: 127.
Berta chrysolineata eccimena Prout,
1912, Ibid., 12: 127.
Diagnosis. The white markings of the wings are punctate, not as large as in B.
copiosa Prout and B. zygophyxia Prout, but larger than in most other
taxa. The medial white band of the anterior of the hindwing is usually
distinctly broader than the spots in the postmedials.
Taxonomic notes. Typical chrysolineata is restricted to Sri Lanka. All races
have a circular notch in the male eighth sternite and a central process to the
tergite. The oblique groove on the valve has a sclerotisation along its dorsal
margin that terminates near the ventral margin of the valve in a short, blunt
spine. In typical chrysolineata the groove is relatively more distal and
its dorsal scobination robust, the spine reaching the ventral margin. In ssp. hainanensis,
ranging from India to Seram (and possibly New Guinea), the groove is more
ventral, less well developed, stopping short of the ventral margin. Ssp. leucospilota
from Australia has genitalia as in hainanensis but the facies has the
postmedial white bands more continuous, fused with more basal white spots
relatively less well developed. The race from Timor is similar and may be
referable to leucospilota. In the Bismarck Is. occurs ssp. eccimena with
the basal structure of the groove even more reduced and terminating even further
from the ventral margin. Ssp. fenestrata from the Solomons has the dorsal
structure of the groove more as in hainanensis, but it is broadened
towards its base.
Geographical range. Widespread in Indo-Australian tropics to Solomons.
Habitat preference. All recent material has been taken in lowland forest, the majority
of specimens on or near limestone.
Biology. Bell (MS) reared the species in S. India. The larva is typical of
the Hemitheiti, slender, twig-like, with a biconical head capsule. The colour is
pale yellow-brown, suffused dark brown anteriorly and posteriorly, and in an
over lapping foliar pattern along the body on segments A2 to A5. The body has
dorsolateral and spiracular longitudinal ridges, and is generally finely
granular.
The larvae rest in a 45
degree stick-like posture at the edge of a leaf. The green pupa is found in
a silken cell in a fold in the surface of a leaf.
The host-plant recorded
was Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae). Kuroko & Lewvanich (1993)
reared a Berta species (as Agathia sp.), possibly chrysolineata,
feeding on the foliage of Nephelium (Sapindaceae).
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