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Streblote Hubner
Type species:
panda Hubner
Synonyms:
Megasoma Boisduval (praeocc) and its replacement name Taragama Moore (type
species repanda Hubner), as reviewed by Fletcher and Nye (1982).
The genus is
most diverse in Africa but has a number of species in the Middle East, India,
and South-east Asia. The species discussed in the specific account below are the
most easterly taxa apart from one in New Guinea.
Most males have
narrow brown forewings and pale fasciation akin to that of the species illustrated,
through mostly more strongly variegated, the larger females with more rounded
forewings likewise. The male hindwings are relatively small.
The male
genitalia are remarkably uniform through the genus with the following diagnostic feature: the bifid valve with two triangular arms; the forked cubile arms, the
lower fork of which is more heavily sclerotised; the bilobed aedeagus vesica,
each lobe ending in a small cornutus.
The larva of an
Indian species was described by Gardner (1941). The lateral protruberances on
each segment are strong. The mesothorax and metathorax each have a strong
transverse crest of stiff black setae with short, pale, flattened setae
posterior to it. The body is blackish with pale brown variegation, each segment
setose and with verrucae, the dorsal ones crimson.
Oriental species
have been reared from the following hosts, mostly characteristic of savannah and
semi-arid habitat; (Pholboon, 1965; Browne, 1968; Bell, MS; CIE records);
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Annonaceae:
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Polyalthia
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Casuarinaceae:
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Casuarina
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Euphorbiaceae:
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Hevea
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Leguminosae:
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Acacia,
Albizia, Butea, Cajanus, Erythrina, Pithecellobium, Sesbania
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Meliaceae:
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Swietenia
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Myrtaceae:
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Psidium
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Rhamnaceae:
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Ziziphus
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Sterculiaceae:
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Theobroma
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Tamaricaceae:
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Tamarix
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Theaceae:
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Camellia
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