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Avatha bubo Geyer comb. n.
Athyrma
bubo Geyer, 1832, Zuträge Samml. exot. Schmett., 4: 13.
Hypaetra
perficiens Walker, 1858, List Specimens
lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 14: 1412, syn. n.
Hypaetra condita Walker, 1858, Ibid. 14: 1413, syn. n.
Athyrma bubo Hübner; Holloway, 1976: 34.
Pseudathyrma
bubo Hübner; Kobes, 1985: 53.
Diagnosis. All the remaining species have an
extensive black patch antemedially on the forewing and a sort of hooked
hieroglyph in black just distal to the end of the cell that extends more
narrowly to the costa and dorsum on the postmedial. In bubo and the next
species the hook of the hieroglyph encloses a distinctly paler area, and the
ground colour generally is fawn with vinous variegation. The distal border of
the antemedial black area is approximately straight. See also the next species.
Taxonomic note. This species is often attributed
to Hübner, but see Poole (1989).
The
facies and male genitalia of perficiens (= condita) are as in bubo, and hence the
taxa are brought into synonymy. A. olivacea Prout stat. & comb. n. flies with bubo in Seram but has features more as
in the next species, though it is slightly more robust, the straight distal
margin to the forewing hieroglyph is edged white, and the forewing submarginal
has a distinctly darker component at the costal end.
It has
a greener tinge than bubo and the basal black band of the forewing terminates further from
the dorsum. The male genitalia (Fig 103), compared to bubo, have the valve
generally more rounded, rather than slightly quadrangular, and with a
distinctive small lobe at the centre of the ventral margin; the small distal
lobe in the centre of the valve of bubo is lacking in olivacea, and the latter
has a distinct excavation over the distal part of the harpe. The aedeagus is
shorter in olivacea but the vesica is relatively larger, equal in volume
to the aedeagus, and has a less marked curvature to that of bubo when everted.
Geographical range. Sundaland,
Sulawesi, Seram.
Habitat preference. The species is infrequent in the
lowlands, found in a variety of habitats including disturbed and cultivated
areas. One specimen has been recorded from lower montane forest at 1000m.
Biology. The mature larva was illustrated by
Kuroko & Lewvanich (1993). It is a speckled and mottled, ‘muddy’, lichenous
greenish grey all over, with A1 slightly swollen as in Serrodes
campana (see above) and bearing a dorsolateral pair of black-ringed,
pale yellow spots. The prolegs appear to decrease in size from A6 forward to
A3.
The
host plant is Nephelium (Sapindaceae; see also Robinson et al. (2001)), the
larva feeding on the flowers and young leaves.
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