Dysphania malayanus Guérin-Méneville

Hazis malayanus Guérin-Méneville, 1843, Delessertes Souv. Voy. I'Inde, 2: 89.

Euschema recessa Walker, 1861, J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Zool.), 6: 95.

Euschema proba Butler, 1880, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5), 6 :120.

Diagnosis

This is a paler, duller blue species than the next two, with a more broken, less regularly trapezoid antemedial marking to the forewing. The postmedials are more broken, and the marginal spots more elongate, separated by ground colour along the veins.

Geographical Range

Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Palawan. The syntype ♂ of proba Butler is labelled as from Darjiling, but no other Himalayan material has been seen.

Habitat Preference

Most recent material was taken at light in various lowland forest types.

Biology

The host-plant is Carallia (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia records). In Borneo the Carallia species is C. brachiata (Dr Chey Vun Khen pers. comm.) The adult moth flies at night.

Taxonomic Note

Leong, Groenewoud & Foo (2009) reared Dysphania malayanus in Singapore from a final instar larva found on Carallia brachiata as in Borneo. They illustrated the larva, pupa and adult in colour. The appearance of the final instar is typical of the genus as discussed in Part 9, yellow with arrays of black spots and bluish regions, the last rather minimal as in the larva of D. transducta illustrated by Barlow (1982). The pupa is also typical, with pale-rimmed black discs or ellipses over the spiracles and a pair of very much larger discs of this type on the anterior of the thoracic part.

Genitalia:

Other images: