Sarbanissa transiens Walker

Eusemia transiens Walker, 1855, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 7:1588.

Sarbanissa transiens Walker; Holloway, 1976: 6; Kiriakoff, 1977: 166.

Diagnosis

This is very similar in facies to Sarbanissa sundana Holloway but generally has a narrower postmedial white bar to the forewing. The hindwing black border is slightly narrower and more regular in sundana. The most reliable feature is in the male genitalia where the uncus is relatively 1.25 times longer in sundana, with the valves longer and narrower, the harpe less curved, apically broader, and the row of coronal setae five or six times as long as in transiens.

Geographical Range

N.E. Himalaya to Sundaland.

Biology

The species comes to light at night but has also been taken by day.

Taxonomic Note

The larva of Sarbanissa transiens (not confirmed by dissection) has been reared by S.K.L. Hok in Peninsular Malaysia and is illustrated in Plate 12. The head is black, and the body is mostly a velvety black with long white setae. Segment T1 is narrower and red, and there is a pair of red dorsolateral patches at the slightly swollen posterior end. The host plant was Impatiens balsamina (Balsaminaceae).

Genitalia: