::The Moths of Borneo::

SUBFAMILY EUSTROTIINAE

Naranga diffusa Walker (Plate 3, Figs 103, 105)

�� Xanthodes diffusa Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus.,
�� 33: 779.
�� Xanthoptera dimorpha Snellen, 1880, in Veth, Midden-Sumatra, Lep: 45.
�� Naranga ferruginea Moore, 1882, Descr. new Indian lepid. Insects Colln W.S.
�� Atkinson: 134.
�� Naranga quadrivittata Moore, 1882, Descr. new Indian lepid. Insects Colln W.S.
�� Atkinson: 134.

Diagnosis. See the generic account. In males the forewing dark bands are equal to, or broader than, the more distal arc of ground colour, and the hindwings are dark brown. In the female, the dark bands are very much narrower, and the hindwings are a pale yellowish-straw colour.

Geographical range. Oriental tropics to Sundaland, Sumbawa.

Habitat preference. The only Bornean specimen seen is from Kuching, an area of habitation in the lowlands of Sarawak.

Biology. The larva is a semi‑looper, green with a lateral stripe (Maxwell‑Lefroy & Howlett, 1909).

�� Robinson et al. (2001) noted Oryza and Saccharum (Gramineae) as larval hosts. The larva defoliates the former of which it is a widespread pest, but has been recorded feeding in the stems of the latter.

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