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SUBFAMILY
AEDIINAE |
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Aedia acronyctoides Guenée stat. rev. (Plate 2, Fig 57) Anophia acronyctoides Guenée, 1852, Hist.
Nat. Insectes, Spec. gén. Lépid. 7: 47. Diagnosis. See the previous species. Geographical range. Indo‑Australian tropics to Australia, Fiji and Samoa. Taxonomic note. The holotype of limitaris (OUMNH) is referable to acronyctoides. Habitat preference. The single specimens from 1050m at Kundasan and 1930m on G. Kinabalu recorded by Holloway (1976) were of acronyctoides, and there is also older material from Tenom and Samarinda, lowland areas probably with disturbance and cultivation. The holotype of limitaris was collected by A.R. Wallace in Sarawak, probably also in the lowlands. Biology. Bell (MS) described a larva of the complex in S. India as somewhat ophiusine in shape with A1 held slightly humped and with a transverse ridge on A8. However, the anterior pairs of prolegs are not significantly reduced. The head is a stone brown, spotted black. The body is ochreous brown dorsally and ventrally, speckled with white‑ringed black dots. There are thin, bright orange dorsolateral and lateral lines, and a white subspiracular one that extends from the spiracles to the leg bases, and it encloses a row of light yellow‑brown patches. There are black patches centrally ventrally on A3 to A9 and yellow areas on A1 and A2. There are black patches associated with the spiracle on A1, and a dorsolateral white diamond on A8. Voucher material of the adults reared by Bell has acronyctoides‑type genitalia. The larvae rest stretched along stems and leaves, often in groups, and move with a somewhat semi‑looping gait. Pupation is in the soil in an ovoid chamber lined with a whitish coating. The host plants recorded by Bell were mostly Convolvulaceae: Argyreia, Ipomoea, Merremia. Robinson et al. (2001) recorded Limonia (Rutaceae), Lycopersicon and Solanum (Solanaceae). Corbett & Dover (1927) described a “smoky black” larva on Ipomoea in Peninsular Malaysia that is otherwise similar to that described by Bell. Common (1990) described the larva in Australia as bluish grey with longitudinal orange‑yellow stripes, but did not mention the black speckling that appears to characterise leucomelas. Also Semper (1896‑1902) illustrated a larva that is dorsally dull green with a few dark marks, and ventrally paler, greyer with a sharp, straight, subspiracular division between the two zones. Common (1990) noted Convolvulus and Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) as the principal host plants, but also recorded Chondrilla (Compositae).
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