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Iambia
Walker
Type
species: inferalis Walker, Africa.
Synonyms.
Pariambia Hampson (type species aprepes Hampson, Sri Lanka, = pulla
Swinhoe, India) syn. n.; Iambiodes Hampson (type species anomalis
Hampson, India) syn. n.
This
genus is best defined by features of the male and female genitalia; these are
shared by the genera brought into synonymy. It contains species with a forewing
pattern in which both orbicular and reniform stigmata are large, and there is a
double, irregularly curved postmedial as in Callopistria Hubner; distal
to the postmedial there is often a dark band that is broader anteriorly and
crossed by fine pale lines to give a reticulate effect. In most taxa these
markings are diffuse and obscure; the Bornean taxa show them most strongly.
In
the male abdomen there are no basal hair pencils, but the apodemes of the basal
sternite have short, deep interior flanges. There are no lateral rods or
coremata on the eighth sternite. The uncus has a diagnostic pseuduncus, though
this is replaced by a dorsal spine in one of the Bornean species and its
sister-species. The valve is short, broad, with a simple harpe set centrally in
most species but found on the ventral margin in the type species. The aedeagus
vesica is globular, basally scobinate and with one or two distal clusters of
much larger spines.
In
the female genitalia the ductus is distally scobinate. The base of the bursa is
more sclerotised than the rest, sometimes developed into an appendix bursae. The
distal part of the bursa is incompletely ringed by two or more bands of small
spines.
The
spines in the female bursa and the form of the male uncus in particular, but
also that of the valve and aedeagus vesica, serve to define the genus.
Bell
(MS) described the biology of I. thwaitesii Moore in India. The larva is
broadest at the middle, tapering to either end; the head is half the central
width of the body. The head is green or yellow-green, with brown setae. The
surface of the body is dull, with primary setae only, these set on small
tubercles. The colour is light grass green. There are dorsal and lateral yellow
lines, the former broken in the centre of each segment. There are much weaker,
broken, supra- and subspiracular lines. The body setae are associated with white
spots set in zones of green that lack a yellowish flush. Younger instars are
darker green, with the lines and spots white. The first two pairs of prolegs are
smaller than the rest, and the larva moves in a 'semilooper' manner.
The
larvae live on the underside of leaves, feeding on young growth. Pupation is in
the soil in a firm earthen cocoon closely lined on the inside with white silk.
The
host-plant was Ziziphus (Rhamnaceae).
Bell
also described the larva of I. pulla Swinhoe. This is another a semi-
looper, with the prolegs on A3 considerably reduced. It is similar in appearance
to the previous one, but the host-plant given was Justicia (Acanthaceae).
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