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Hemithea
marina Butler
Thalassodes marina Butler,
1878, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5), 1: 399.
Thalera costipunctata Moore,
1887, Lep. Ceylon., 3: 328, syn. n.
Hemithea simplex Warren, 1897, Novit. zool., 4: 40, syn.
n.
Iodis pariciliata Fuchs, 1902, Jb. nassau. Ver. Naturk., 55:
86, ?syn. n.
Diagnosis. This is a small species, a darker, bluer green than congeners, with
the punctate white fasciae relatively conspicuous. The wing margins are green
rather than red. Its genitalia resemble those of antigrapha but differ in
the features listed in the diagnosis of that species.
Taxonomic notes. The taxon graminea Hampson (S. India) is distinct from costipunctata,
here placed as a synonym of marina on similarity of genitalic
features: it is a synonym of Hemithea
wuka Pagenstecher.
Geographical range. Indian subregion to Japan, Sundaland, Sulawesi and Seram.
Habitat preference. All recent material has been taken near Kuching in Sarawak, at
Semengok and at the foot (100m) of G. Santubong. These are both in lowland
forest.
Biology. Bell (MS) described the larva (as costipunctata) in S.
India. The head is bifid, the lobes conical with similar smaller conical
protuberances on the prothorax. The body is granular with minute white conical
tubercles, and there are subdorsal rows of larger ones longitudinally. The
colour is brownish pink with dorsal blackish marks at the edges of the abdominal
segments between dentate subdorsal lines; there are faint oblique lines of white
and pink laterally. A variant is light green with pinkish markings.
The colour of the pupa
resembles that of the larva. Pupation is in a loose silken cocoon incorporating
debris.
The larva feeds on the
flowers, young leaves and pods of a variety of plants (Bell; Singh, 1957; Mathur,
Singh & Lal, 1958; Yunus & Ho, 1980; Zhang, 1994): Acacia (Leguminosae);
Brassica (Cruciferae); Citrus, Glycosmis (Rutaceae); Hevea (Euphorbiaceae);
Lantana (Verbenaceae); Mangifera (Anacardiaceae); Memecylon (Melastomataceae):
Tephrosia (Leguminosae),
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