Olene mendosa Hübner

Olene mendosa Hübner, 1823, Zuträge Samml. exot. Schmett., (2): 19.

Antipha basalis Walker, 1855, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 4: 806.

Nioda fusiformis Walker, 1855, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 5:1070.

Rilia lanceolata Walker, 1855, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus ., 5:1075.

Dasychira sawanta Moore, [1860] 1858-9, Cat. Lepid. Insects Mus. E. Ind. Co., 2: 340.

Dasychira basalis Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 32: 362.

Dasychira basigera Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 32: 363.

Dasychira divisa Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 32: 363.

Rilia distinguenda Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 32: 435.

Turriga invasa Walker, 1869, Characters undescribed Lepid. Heterocera: 15.

Diagnosis

This is a very variable species in both sexes. Males occur in two forms, themselves showing variability: with a pale or dark blotch restricted to basal to the transverse black antemedial; with whitish or pinkish blotches extending in an irregular sequence of three in the subcostal zone. The discal stigma is inconspicuous. The commoner female form has irregular, longitudinal dark brown zone in the centre of the wing. A rarer form is paler, with basal and postdiscal brown areas, the latter bounded basally by the discal lunule. The hindwings of both sexes are paler than in congeners.

Geographical Range

Oriental tropics east to New Guinea and Australia.

Habitat Preference

Light trap records during recent surveys show the species as infrequent from the lowlands (including mangrove) to 1620m, but its pest status (see below) indicates it may attain much higher abundance on occasions, particularly in cultivated areas.

Biology

The larva has been described by Bell (MS), Gardner (1938), Sevastopulo (1938, 1942), and Chey (1987), being illustrated in the last reference. Early instars differ from later ones in having only the first two of the four dorsal brushes well developed; the third is shorter, pale, and the fourth remains dark as the rest of the body. The final instar has them all pale dull orange, though Gardner and Sevastopulo described them as greyish white. The head, legs and prolegs are crimson. The body is black with paler tracery and a dorsal row of segmental white streaks posterior to the brushes. The setae are generally white except in the more dense pencils flanking the head and dorsally at the rear, where they are black. A lateral white pencil precedes a more flocculent black one on A2. The host-plant range is very large and includes (references cited above; Sevastopulo, 1940; Pholboon, 1965; Browne, 1968; Kuroko & Lewvanich, 1993; Hutacherern & Tubtim, 1995; unpublished IIE and FRIM records): Mangifera (Anacardiaceae*);Ceiba, Durio* (Bombacaceae*);Terminalia* (Combretaceae*);Raphanus* (Cruciferae*);Shorea, Dipterocarpus* (Dipterocarpaceae*);Aleurites, Excoecaria, Ricinus* (Euphorbiaceae*);Pelargonium* (Geraniaceae*);Saccharum, Sorghum, Zea* (Gramineae*);Cinnamomum* (Lauraceae*);Careya* (Lecythidaceae*);Acacia, Arachis, Bauhinia*, Butea, Cajanus, Cassia, Dalbergia, Pithecellobium, Sesbania, Vigna (Leguminosae*);Lagerstroemia* (Lythraceae*);Hibiscus* (Malvaceae*);Zizyphus* (Rhamnaceae*);Rosa (Rosaceae);Coffea* (Rubiaceae*);Populus* (Salicaceae*);Santalum* (Santalaceae*);Dimocarpus, Litchi, Nephelium, Schleichera* (Sapindaceae*);Achras, Palaquium* (Sapotaceae*);Melongena, Solanum* (Solanaceae*);Camellia* (Theaceae*);Tectona* (Verbenaceae).

Genitalia: