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Lacera
noctilio Fabricius
Noctua
noctilio Fabricius, 1794, Ent. Syst. III,
2: 12.
Lacera
capella Guenée, 1852, Hist. Nat. Insectes, Spec. gén. Lépid.
7:
337.
Lacera
noctilio
(Singapore) |
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Diagnosis.
This species is distinguished from the other two Bornean species by its broader
forewings with a large reniform that is distinctly paler.
Geographical
range. Indo-Australian tropics east to Samoa, New Caledonia and Tonga,
also the Marianas and western Carolines.
Habitat
preference. Only one Bornean specimen has been seen, from an area of
disturbed lowland forest at Tamparuli in Sabah.
Biology.
Various
descriptions of larvae of L. alope from the Indian Subregion (e.g. Moore,
1884-1887; Semper, 1896-1902; Gardner, 1947) probably apply to noctilio,
as do their host plants, though Robinson et al. (2001)
still listed some under alope.
The
prolegs on both A3 and A4 are very small (as distinct for the situation in uniformis
Holloway;
see below), and there are strong, tapering subdorsal tubercles on A8. Moore
illustrated a slender green larva, but Gardner referred to spiritpreserved
material with stippling of black or brown that tended to form lines or bands.
Semper illustrated a green larva with longitudinal striae.
The host
plants listed by Robinson et al. for
both alope
and
noctilio,
and excluding those from Bell’s account (see uniformis below), are mostly from Caesalpinia
(Leguminosae),
but also include Pisonia (Nyctaginaceae) and Canthium
(Rubiaceae).
These non-leguminous records, reproduced by Barlow (1982), are derived from a
review of the old literature by Sevastopulo (1941b); the records originated from
Thwaites in Moore (1884-1887). Semper (1896-1902)
recorded
his larva from Callicarpa (Verbenaceae).
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