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Nygmia
solitaria van Eecke comb. n.
Euproctis solitaria van
Eecke, 1928, Zool. Meded. Leiden, 11:129.
Euproctis walshae Collenette, 1951, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (12), 4:1032, syn. n.
Euproctis walshae Collenette; Holloway, 1976: 48.
Euproctis spec. near javana Aurivillius sensu Schintlmeister,
1994: Plate 7.
Nygmia
solitaria 
(Peninsular
Malaysia)
Nygmia
solitaria 
(Peninsular
Malaysia)
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Diagnosis. The forewing facies of the male is unmistakable, the yellow paler than
in the javana complex and much more extensive in the apical and
marginal zone. Females bear some resemblance to those of the javana
complex, but the discal spot is set asymmetrically in the costal yellow
triangle, and the marginal yellow is restricted to a more obliquely
bordered apical patch.
Taxonomic note. The rearing of both sexes indicates the synonymy of walshae
with solitaria: the species shows extreme sexual dimorphism, but the
asymmetric position of the discal spot in the costal yellow triangle and the
obliquely bounded apical area of yellow are seen in both sexes (see also sp.
2613).
Geographical range. Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo.
Habitat preference. N. solitaria is uncommon, mostly found in lowland forest
localities such as the Ulu Temburong of Brunei, but also including areas cleared
for cultivation such as at Tuaran in Sabah. One male was taken in lower montane
forest at 900m on the limestone G. Api.
Biology. The species has been reared in Peninsular Malaysia by H.S. Barlow who
described the larva as having an orange head flanked by lateral tufts of dark
hair. There are two dorsal thoracic tufts of grey hairs and a further one
anally, the grey hairs being black-tipped. The body is grey-black with a thin
dorsal red line with white on each side extending posteriorly from the thoracic
tufts. The legs and prolegs are reddish.
Pupation was in light silken cocoons within the leaves of the
host-plant. The adults emerged between one and two weeks after pupation.
The host-plant was Dendropthoe pentandra (Loranthaceae), parasitic
on Bauhinia kockiana (Leguminosae).
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