Europlema nivosaria Walker comb. n.

Erosia nivosaria Walker, 1866, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 35 : 1644.

Erosia paucifera Walker, 1866, Ibid., 35 : 1648.

Diagnosis

The ground colour is white, marked finely with ochreous yellow and dark brown.

The forewing has a shallow marginal mark as in congeners, and there is a prominent dark discal spot, part of a broken medial band.

The species lacks the general brown suffusion of the forewing and posterior rufous zone on the hindwing seen in Bornean congeners.

Taxonomic Notes

The only Bornean specimen seen is a female, somewhat more heavily marked than material from further east, and somewhat more clouded with fine brown striae.

More material is needed to clarify the status of the Bornean population.

The genitalia illustrated are from a Sula Is. specimen.

Geographical range

Mysol, Hainan, Taiwan, Borneo, Sula Is., Sangihe, Talaut, New Guinea, Bismarcks.

Habitat preference

One specimen, taken in 1950, is labelled as from the Segawa (Segama) River, 50miles upstream and 12 miles south of Dewhurst Bay in Sabah.

This is a lowland locality, probably not far from the Danum Valley Field Centre.

Chey (1994) also recorded a singleton from a Gmelina arborea plantation in the lowlands of Sabah.

Biology

Chen (1997) noted this species as feeding on Premna (Verbenaceae) in Taiwan.

His illustration of the larva is similar to that of congeners.

Genitalia: