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Lophoptera
squammigera Guenée
Lophoptera squammigera Guenée,
1852, Hist. nat. Insectes, Spec. gen. Lepid. 7: 55.
Lophoptera costata Moore,
1885, Lepid. Ceylon 3: 123, syn. n.
Lophoptera costata Moore;
Holloway, 1976: 19 (part).
Diagnosis. This species is distinguished from the next two in their descriptions,
but basically has a pale longitudinal zone to the forewing that is grey rather
than white at the anterior edge as a rule, and grades away more gently towards
the dorsum.
Taxonomic note. This species belongs to a complex that is elucidated in the accounts of
the next two.
Geographical range. Oriental tropics to Sundaland and Sulawesi. The 'New
Holland' type locality of squammigera may be spurious (no specimens were
located in the Australian National Insect Collection) though single specimens in
the BMNH from Timor and the Bismarcks (New Hanover) may indicate that the
species is present but rare in Australasia.
Habitat preference. The species has been recorded from upper montane
forest on G. Mulu and Bukit Pagon, and at 1200m on G. Kinabalu. Single specimens
have been taken from alluvial forest, low altitude forest on limestone and mixed
dipterocarp forest.
Biology. Gardner (1948a) described the larva as pale green with no cuticular
pigment, and 35mm long. The crochets are homoideous.
The Indian host-plants are Mallotus (Gardner 1948a) and Briedelia
in the Euphorbiaceae, Shorea in the Dipterocarpaceae and Grewia in
the Tiliaceae (Mathur 1942).
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