|
Ophisma
gravata Guenée
Ophisma
gravata Guenée, 1852, Noct, 3: 237.
Grammodes
pallens Lucas, 1892, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W.,
(2) 7: 260.
Ophisma
gravata Guenée; Kobes, 1992: 88.
|
Ophisma
gravata 
|
 |
 |
Diagnosis.
Much smaller than its congener, gravata has browner, more uniform and more triangular (but
still falcate) forewings with a distinctly straight, fine medial line. The
hindwing has a similar colour and black border to pallescens,
but the border diffuses more strongly to the margin.
Geographical
range. Indo-Australian tropics to Okinawa, the Caroline Is. and New
Guinea; E.Australia, New Caledoni (ssp. pallens).
Habitat
preference. Records consist of two specimens from Brunei: dipterocarp
forest at 60m in the Ulu Belait; dry heath forest on sand at 15m at Telisai.
Chey (1994) also recorded two specimens from secondary and plantation forest at
Brumas in the lowlands of Sabah, and there is a specimen from Bidi in lowland
Sarawak and several from Samarinda in the lowlands of Kalimantan.
Biology.
The larva was described by Bell (MS) as ophiusine in shape, with the prolegs on
A3 lacking, the others all developed. The head is marbled purple and has yellow
longitudinal bands. The body is smooth, invariably light or brownish purple,
with the setae short and arising from white dots. There is a broken, indistinct,
beaded, dorsal yellow band and a wavy, marbled lateral band of the same colour.
A1 has a larger dorsal white dot, bordered blackish orange. The spiracles are
also orange with black rims, and the ventral surface is white, marbled with
orange lines and spotted with black and orange between the prolegs.
Pupation
is in a cell of leaves, fastened and lined with silk. The pupa has a blue-white
or grey powdery bloom.
The host
plant was a riverine species of Polygonum (Polygonaceae).
The
adult has been recorded as a fruit piercer in Thailand (Bänziger, 1982).
<<Back
>>Forward <<Return
to Content Page
|
