Homophylotis albicilia Hampson

Artona albicilia Hampson, 1900, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 13: 225.

Diagnosis

The original description states that the moth is a uniform dark brown with a slight purplish tinge, whereas Jordan (1907) referred to a faint bluish sheen and to a central greyish transparent zone to the hindwing. The distal margins have white cilia, and Jordan noted white edging to the hindwing cell on the underside. The undersides of the head and body are white, also the mid-tibia. The male antennae are bipectinate, shorter than in annulipes and lacking significant white scaling in the apical area. The hindwing pale zone is narrower, less conspicuous, and the tarsi of the hind-legs are not ringed white.

Taxonomic note

Only the syntypes from Pulo Laut have been located. Both specimens have their abdomens mounted dry on card with the labels, with the genitalia separated in one of them. These have not been reconstituted, but examination in situ and of a sketch in the relevant BMNH drawer shows prominent hook-like processes on the ventral margin of the valves that may be homologous with those of H. doloides Pagenstecher (Bismarck Is.) as illustrated by Tarmann (2004). The species was recorded from the mountains of Java at about 1000m by Tothill et al. (1930), but Javan voucher material was not located. These authors gave a wide geographical range for the species, extending east to Ambon, Tanimbar and islands at the south-east of New Guinea, but with the caveat that ‘Dr K. Jordan informs us that the moths under this name from these localities represent several distinct species’. Material from across this geographical range is collected together in BMNH, and some Tothill vouchers are also present, but no systematic dissection has been undertaken. Hence the comments on the life history below should be treated with similar caution.

Geographical range

N.E. Himalaya, Borneo, ?Java.

Habitat preference

Pulo Laut is a low-lying island off the south-east of Borneo.

Biology

Tarmann (1992b) listed Alpinia and Hedychium (Zingiberaceae) as larval hosts, but these records originate from Tothill et al. (1930) as discussed above. Tothill et al. stated that the pale green, translucent eggs are laid singly on the undersides of the leaves of these gingers. They are oval viewed from above but with a central depression that renders them crescent-shaped from the side. The surface has a delicate, regular reticulation.

The larva has the first thoracic segment extended over the head and presses against the leaf covering it in the form of a sucker, covering the head. There are subdorsal and lateral tubercles on each segment bearing the setae. The fully grown larva is a translucent green of the same shade as the host leaf. There may be a yellowish tint to the thorax, and males may have the distal part of the abdomen whitish, whilst A1-A6 are more bluish green.

The larva feeds initially on the lower epidermis of the leaf, but later instars eat the whole leaf from the edge, resting curved in a slight sigmoid in a plane parallel to the leaf surface. Pupation is in a cocoon on the underside of the leaf, the cocoon covered by a fine white powder.