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Macroglossum heliophila Boisduval
Macroglossa heliophila Boisduval, 1875, Hist. nat. Insects. Spec. Gen. Lep.,
1: 354.
Macroglossum heliophila Boisduval; Rothschild & Jordan, 1903: 645.
Diagnosis.
This is the smallest species with a pale grey medial bar to the forewing
(see diagnosis of M. mediovitta above). In the male genitalia the harpe is
blunt, slender, and the aedeagus has a slender, tapering, long, apical
process.
Taxonomic notes. This species has been referred to in recent literature
(eg.
Dupont & Roepke, 1941; Diehl, 1980) under its junior synonym fringilla
Boisduval. Moulds (1985) has clarified the matter and published a full
synonymy.
Geographical range. Indo-Australian tropics.
Habitat preference. The single Bornean specimen seen is from Sarawak with
no more precise locality data.
Biology. The early stages were described by Bell & Scott (1937) and
Dupont & Roepke (1941). There are green, reddish brown and black forms
of the fully grown larva, the green form having white granulation, a pale
yellow dorsolateral stripe and a reddish horn (Dupont & Roepke). Early
instars are blood red with honey yellow at the anterior and posterior
(Bell & Scott), the red fading and the body becoming greener with
growth. Bell & Scott refer to a dark dorsal stripe, broken to a row of
triangular spots in the final instar, but do not mention a dorsolateral
stripe; the dark form has a bluish dorsal stripe. The green form from Hong
Kong is shown above.
Recorded host-plants (Bell & Scott; Dupont & Roepke; Miyata, 1983;
Bascombe, in litt.) are: Morinda, Psychotria (Rubiaceae).
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