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Lithosiopsis
rectigramma Hampson comb. n.
Codonodes
rectigramma Hampson, 1907, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.,
17: 667.
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Lithosiopsis
rectigramma  |
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Diagnosis.
Both this and the next species have the generic feature of the biarcuate, pale,
forewing submarginal with dark blocks in the spaces basad over the dorsal half
of the fascia. However, papuana Hampson is larger, its forewing more uniform, and
with the pale postmedial obtusely angled centrally rather than curved
subcostally. In rectigramma the fasciation of the forewing is more evident, all
fasciae basal to the postmedial showing a similar curvature to it.
Taxonomic
note. C. louisiada Hampson may be a synonym, but the unique
holotype lacks an abdomen.
Geographical
range. India,
Sri Lanka, Borneo, ?New Guinea (Louisiade Is.; louisiada).
Habitat
preference. Bornean material seen consists of three specimens: 150m in hill
dipterocarp forest on G. Mulu; 250m in dipterocarp forest on the lower slopes of
the limestone G. Api; 100m on a roadside in secondary forest near the Danum
Valley Field Centre in Sabah. See also the next species.
Biology.
The life history has been recorded in India by Bell (MS). The larva is
cylindrical, with a distinct neck, the head only slightly narrower than T1 and
T2. The prolegs on A3 are absent and those on A4 are reduced. The head is
orange, but its setae are based on conspicuous black spots. The body is
‘enamel’ white, grey on the side and green ventrally. The primary setae also
arise from large black spots, and there is an indistinct yellow band in the
region of the spiracles, most obvious just above them. The black spots coalesce
dorsally on A9 and at the extremity of A10, the latter with green at its apex.
The
larvae stretch out on the underside of leaves. They pupate in a slight silken
cell in the folded edge of a leaf. The pupa squirms and rolls in this cell when
it is touched.
The host
plant is usually Pongamia, but the larva has also been found on Derris,
both Leguminosae.
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