Ctenoplusia albostriata Bremer & Grey

Plusia albostriata Bremer & Grey, 1853, Beitr. Schmett. nort. China . p. 18.

Abrostola subchalybaea Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. InsectsColln Br. Mus. 33: 833.

Abrostola nubila Moore, 1887, Lepid. Ceylon 3: 549.

Plusia oxygramma Hampson, 1892, Fauna British India, Moths 2:575.

Plusia albostriata Bremer & Grey; Holloway, 1976: 32.

Diagnosis

The species has uniform ashen grey forewings usually ornamented with a central oblique white streak.

This streak can be reduced or absent (f. euchalybaea = innotata Ichinose). Ichinose, Takahashi & Ichino (1967) have shown that the presence or absence of the streak is controlled by a single allele, presence being dominant to absence.

Taxonomic Notes

The wing markings are identical to those of the Afro-tropical species vittata Wallengren (= transfixa Walker) though vittata does not appear to have a streak-less form.

The male genitalia of vittata lack ventral blade-like setae on the valve but have a bird head shaped sclerotised process extending to half way from the sacculus, and lateral patches of coarse scobination on the anellus.

The two taxa are probably sister-species.

Geographical range

Throughout the Indo-Australian tropics to New Zealand (partly migrant) and Rapa Is.

Habitat preference

On G. Kinabalu the species was taken almost entirely at Bundu Tuhan, a vegetable growing area at 1200m. It was not recorded on the Mulu survey or in Brunei.

Biology

The larva is as described in the introductory section for the subfamily.

Apart from Symphytum in the Boraginaceae (Peninsular Malaysia; CIE records) and Calystegia in the Convolvulaceae (Miyata, 1983) all host records have been in the family Compositae: Aster, Dichrocephala, Elephantopus, Erigeron (Gardner 1947; Robinson 1975); Calendula, Callistephus, Dahlia, Solidago (Miyata, 1983).

Genitalia: