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Metanastria Hubner
Type species: hyrtaca Cramer
This genus and
the genus Lebeda Walker were revised by Lajonquière (1979). Two Cramer species
are involved in his analysis, one, hyrtaca, being the type species of
Metanastria. Lajonquière appended seven other names in synonymy to hyrtaca.
Examination of material in the BMNH has indicated that a small complex is
involved, ranging through the region from India to China, but extending to
Peninsular Malaysia with three species, one of which is shared with Borneo, and
two of which extend to Sumatra and Java. There is a species in the Philippines.
The original
illustration of hyrtaca (type probably lost) is indicative of synonymy with
repanda Walker; lusca Fabricius and laricis Hubner are best retained also as
synonyms of hyrtaca as the types are probably lost.
The original
illustration of aconyta Cramer, based on a female, suggests the species is a
Metanastria, having the reddish tone typical of many females of that genus and
alien to the other taxa included as synonyms by Lajonquière; the specimen also
lacks the forewing tornal spots typical of those other synonyms. It is probable
that aconyta is a senior synonym of recta Walker and plagiata Walker,
subordinated to hyrtaca by Lajonquière. Horsfield & Moore (1879)
subordinated plagiata and brahma Lefebvre to buddha Lefebvre so these three
names are probably synonyms of aconyta. The type of quadricincta Fabricius
(Zoological Museum, Copenhagen) is a female that is also referable to aconyta (colour
photograph examined).
The rest of the
synonyms of aconyta sensu Lajonquière refers to an Indian Lebeda species for
which trifascia Walker ( = substrigosa Walker, opponens Walker,
subparallela
Walker, bhira Moore, nanda Moore) is the oldest name.
The genus can be defined as follows:
The wing venation is typical of the lasiocampine group. There is considerable
sexual dimorphism. The male forewings are narrower and more apically produced
than in the female, and the insect itself is smaller. The male antennae are
strongly bipectinate, most broadly so over the basal third; in the female the
pectinations are much narrower.
The forewings of
both sexes have two postmedial and two antemedial pale fasciae on a reddish
brown ground, this being paler between each pair in the female. The fasciae are
much narrower, closer together and more basal in the males. The medial area is
of the ground colour in the female with only a weak paler discal spot, but in
the males the distal spot is prominently pale within a very dark brown area that extends between the
inner fasciae, often to the costa, but never beyond vein CuA2 posteriorly. There
is a row of darker dashes crossing the spaces submarginally, with pale colour
grading away basad.
The male
genitalia have the dorsal portion much as in Bhima and the following genera, but
the cubile arms are slender, splayed, apically outcurved. The aedeagus resembles
that of the next genus in having a flattened, subapical, ventral spur, spined
round the distal margin, the margin often grooved like a pulley-wheel, with spines along
each rim. The male genitalia do not provide strong characters for specific
diagnosis.
The Indian
species can be distinguished on facies characters as follows:
M. hyrtaca: male
forewing relatively deep, dark brown medial patch narrow, often broken
anteriorly; submarginal dashes strong, irregular, with paler zones basad
prominent.
M. aconyta: male
forewing with medial patch large, the discal dot almost white; the submarginal
dashes are moderate and regular, almost in a straight line.
Lajonquière considered hyrtaca to be represented in Sumatra and Java; a male and
female from Peninsular Malaysia in the BMNH have the forewing relatively deep as
in that species, but the male has the dark medial area very much broader
than in Indian material. There are two undescribed species: a small hyrtaca-like
taxon from Luzon with distinctive genitalia; an aconyta-like species from Penang
where the male has the hindwing triangular, the dorsal zone vested with
androconia. M. gemella Lajonquière, allied to aconyta, is a Sundanian species
found in Borneo.
Gardner (1941)
described the larva of M. hyrtaca. There are two lateral protruberances on each
side of the prothorax, the lower being longer. The protruberances on the rest of
the body are strong, all with long, diffuse setae mixed with a few pale clavate
setae. The mesothorax has a small, transverse, velvety black patch dorsally and
the metathorax has a dorsal, crimson, transverse cleft before the last annulus,
with the skin velvety black just anteriorly. The body is dull greyish brown, two
dark lines forming a chain of oval marks along the dorsum. There are
sparse black secondary setae and fine black hairs also on the distinct blue
verrucae (2 dorsal pairs and one above each spiracle) on most abdominal
segments.
The undersurface is reddish, black along the middle.
The species has
a wide range of diet, defoliating many tree species (Sevastopulo, 1938, 1940;
Browne, 1968; Pholboon, 1965; Bell, MS; unpublished CIE records):
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Anacardiaceae:
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Anacardium
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Bischofiaceae:
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Bischofia
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Capparidaceae:
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Cratera
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Combretaceae:
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Terminalia
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Dipterocarpaceae:
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Shorea
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Elaeocarpaceae:
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Elaeocarpus
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Flacourtiaceae:
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Casearia
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Guttiferae:
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Garcinia
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Leguminosae:
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Acacia,
Albizia
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Moraceae:
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Morus
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Myrtaceae:
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Psidium,
Eugenia, Eucalyptus
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Naucleaceae:
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Anthocephalus
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Sapotaceae:
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Mimusops,
Manilkara (Achras), Madhuca (Bassia)
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Sterculiaceae:
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Guazuma
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Theaceae:
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Schima
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Verbenaceae:
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Gmelina,
Nyctanthes
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