Zurobata vacillans Walker

Selenis vacillans Walker, 1864, J. Proc. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), 7: 189.

Selenis aequalis Walker, 1864, J. Proc. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), 7: 189.

Selenis inaequalis Walker, 1864, J. Proc. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), 7: 189.

Selenis irrecta Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 33: 1066.

Selenis niviapex Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 33: 1069.

Xanthoptera selenicula Snellen, 1880, Tijdschr. Ent., 23: 62.

Diagnosis

This species has very similar facies to those of Lophoruza vacillatrix Hampson and Ataboruza unipuncta Warren (see p. 106 and  p. 111) but has a more complex distal termination to the costal band of the forewing, consisting of an apical white patch and another smaller one posterior to it directed obliquely away towards the margin on M2 from the posterior border of the band. The whitish postmedial is sharply angled within the band, and curves gently over the posterior part of the wing, the concavity distad. The costal band can be partially obscured by shades of grey in some specimens. A single female from New Guinea with facies typical of vacillans has genitalia (slide 21178) with the neck of the corpus bursae a third of the length of that of a Bornean female (slide 20613); Similar variation in this feature is noted for L. vacillatrix on p. 106.

Geographical range

Oriental tropics; New Guinea.

Habitat preference

The species is infrequent but has been recorded from disturbed coastal forest through hill dipterocarp forest to montane forest at 1618m in Brunei. Chey (1994) recorded over 30 in a variety of softwood plantations near Brumas in the lowlands of Sabah.

Biology

Gardner (1948a) described the larva and referred to an illustration by Moore (1884-1887). Prolegs are absent from A3 but minutely present with eight very small crochets on A4. A1-3 each bear a pair of rounded protuberances dorsally, and A8 has a prominent soft horn dorsally. The head and body are unusual in being covered closely with fine secondary setae or pubescence. The colour is a dull mottled greyish black (noted as purplish black in Peninsular Malaysia by Barlow (1982)) with a blackish triangular mark dorsally on A2 and A3.

The host range is diverse (Robinson et al., 2001), including:

• fungus on dead leaves
• lichens
• Coccoidea
• green plants.

Robinson et al. listed the following records from higher plants:

• Brassica (Cruciferae)
• Hevea, Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae)
• Naravelia (Ranunculaceae)
• Coffea (Rubiaceae)
• Dimocarpus (Sapindaceae)
• Theobroma (Sterculiaceae).

Barlow (1982) stated that it had been recorded on the trunks of rubber (Hevea) trees in Peninsular Malaysia, probably feeding on fungus or lichen; the larvae accepted fungus in captivity.

Genitalia: