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Utetheisa
pulchelloides Hampson
Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson,
1907, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (7) 19: 239.
Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson;
Jordan, 1939, Novit, Zool., 41: 28 1-3. (Subspecies described
and
discussed).
Utetheisa lotrix Cramer sensu Roepke, 1941; Holloway, 1976: 4.
Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson;
Robinson, 1971.
Diagnosis. This and the next species are most reliably separated by examination of
the male genitalia. There are differences in the male antennae (Roepke, 1941;
Robinson, 1971) and also a usually reliable difference in the forewing: there is
a red patch between the more elongate pair of black marginal marks at the tornus
and the subdorsal black spot of the submarginal in pulchelloides that is
lacking in lotrix.
Taxonomic notes. This and the next species were confused by Roepke (1941). Robinson
(1971) gave historical details of this confusion and its resolution. Cramer's
original illustration of lotrix accords with the diagnostic feature of
the forewing given above.
Geographical range. Islands of the Indian Ocean, Indo-Australian and
Pacific tropics, Australia, migrant to Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Norfolk I. and
New Zealand (Holloway, 1977).
Habitat preference. The species is frequent in open, disturbed and
agricultural habitats in the lowlands.
Biology. The larva in Fiji is bright lemon-yellow with black patterning (Robinson
& Robinson, 1974). The ground colour forms a narrow dorsal stripe broken by
black at the centre of each segment, and is more evident in a longitudinal
external zone though not to the same extent as in lotrix. The head is
dark tan.
The most frequently recorded host-plant is Messerschmidia (Robinson
& Robinson), but the species has also been recorded from other Boraginaceae
such as Bothriospermum (Miyata, 1983), Heliotropium (Sevastopulo,
1944, McFarland, 1979) Echium and Myosotis (McFarland, 1979).
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