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 wukaPagenstecher.

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),

Genitalia: