Pleurona Falcata Walker, An Addition To the Noctuid Fauna of the Indian Mainland

2004·1.1 MB·

by  Peter Smetacek

:
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Moving from east to west, Mussoorie is roughly which can become very common ifthere are no forest
100 km west of Bhimtal in Kumaon. Bhimtal is the fires and rainfall is heavy for several consecutive
westernmostsiterecorded forcristata(Smetacek 1994). years.
This species has not been recorded from Mussoorie, The present record confirms that at least some
butitsappearance in Shimla(roughly 100 kmnorthwest Hawkmothshaveextendedtheirrangewestwardsalong
of Mussoorie and 200 km west of Bhimtal) suggests the Himalaya during the second halfofthe twentieth
the existence ofcristata in the area between Bhimtal century.
and Shimla, probablyaround Mussoorie.
In Kumaon, cristata has been recorded in all February 7, 2002 PETER SMETACEK
the three ranges of the Himalaya. In the outermost Jones Estate, Bhimtal P.O.,
range,where populationshavebeen monitored forover Nainital263 136,
two decades, it is acommon, well-established species, Uttaranchal,India.
REFER E N C E S
Bell, T.R.D. & F.B. Scott (1937): The Fauna of British India Hampson,G.F. (1892):TheFaunaofBritishIndiaincludingCeylon
includingCeylon and Burma. Moths Vol. V. Taylor& Francis, and Burma. MothsVol. I. Taylor& Francis, Fondon.
Fondon. Smetacek, P. (1994): An annotated list of the hawkmoths
D’Abrera, B. (1986): Sphingidae Mundi. E.W. Classey Ftd., (Fepidoptera: Sphingidae)ofKumaon,N.India:aprobablecase
Faringdon,U.K. offaunal drift. Rec. zool. Surv. India, Occ. Paper156 1-55.
25. PLEURONA FALCATA WALKER, AN ADDITION TO THE NOCTUID FAUNA
OF THE INDIAN MAINLAND
In the Indian sub-region, the species Pleurona falcata is a valid name butdoesnot refertothe species
falcata Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) has been being discussed here.
reported from Burma (Myanmar) and the Andaman The specimen is in perfect condition. It matches
Islands (Hampson 1894), but not from the Indian thedescription and Fig. 310 in Hampson (1894)except
mainland. A single specimen was recorded by this inthefollowingpoints:
author in the Kumaon Himalaya. This record extends 1 . The ground colour on the recto surface is dark
the known distribution of this moth considerably purplish-brown, notbrightred-brown.
westwards and northwards. It was previously known 2. Onthehindwingrecto,theseriesofsubmarginal
from tropical areas, but the present record is from specks mentioned by Hampson are part ofa crenulate
c. 29° 20’ 43" N. line.
3 Onthehindwingverso,themedialandpostmedial
.
Thefollowing isadescriptionofthespecimen: linesareclearandsharplydefined,notindistinct.
4. On thehindwing verso,the submarginal line is
Pleurona Walker crenulate from the inner margin for two thirds of its
1866. Cat. Lep. Het. Brit. Mus. Lond. 35: 564. length and the remainingthird is straighttothecosta.
Pleuronafalcata Walker The breeding status ofthis moth in the Bhimtal
1866. Cat. Lep. Het. Brit. Mus. Lond. 35: 564. valley is uncertain, since this is the only specimen
Material Examined: 1 ex. (female): 20.xi.1998, recorded in over two decades of monitoring moth
Jones Estate, Bhimtal, Kumaon 1,500 m at MV light. populations at this site. However, it is certainly from a
&
Leg. coll. Peter Smetacek. breeding population within Indian borders, since it is
Forewing Length: 17 mm. inconceivable that the present specimen could have
Expanse: 38 mm (Hampson 1894 & mihi). passed itsearlystages in Myanmarandthen traveledto
Distribution: Burma,Andamans(Hampson 1894). Bhimtal. It is more likely that breeding populations of
Remarks: Thistaxon shouldnotbeconfusedwith this moth will be found at low elevation along the
Chilkasafalcata Swinhoe, which Hampson (1894) Himalaya, at least as far west as Kumaon, particularly
included under Pleurona, proposing the new name intheTeraiandBhabarzones,sincethismothisprimarily
Pleurona perhamata, since Pleurona falcata was atropical species.
preoccupied by the species being discussed here. The Itseemsthatthe presentspecimenwasastraggler
genusChilkasa Swinhoewas subsequentlyresurrected from low elevation attempting to disperse the species.
inrecentworks such as Barlow(1982); henceChilkasa Its appearance in late November further indicates that
172 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (1), Jan.-Apr. 2004
9
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
it is a low elevation species, since there are very few (Smetacek 1994, 1995) are recent arrivals. In the case
locally established moths on the wing at that time at ofPleuronafalcata, 1 would venture to suggest that it
1,500m elevation. isa relatively recent arrival, probably sometimeduring
In recent years, a number of typically Indo- the 20th century, since extensive work by a number of
Malayan Lepidoptera have been added to the known workers in the eastern Himalaya and the hills of
faunaoftheKumaon Himalaya(Smetacek 1994, 1995, northeastIndiaduringthe 1 thand 20th centuries failed
1998). While the paucityofcomparative material from to discoverthis moth.
the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries from this
area makes it uncertain whether the new records are February7, 2002 PETER SMETACEK
recent arrivals or have been established here since the Jones Estate, Bhimtal P.O.,
records began, in some cases it has been possible to Nainital263 136,
suggestthat some hawkmothsand at least one butterfly Uttaranchal, India.
REFER N C E s
;
Barlow, H. (1982): An Introduction to the Moths of SE Asia. 1-55.
Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. Smetacek, P. (1995): A new altitudinal and range record for the
Hampson.G.F. (1894):TheFaunaofBritishIndiaincludingCeylon Copper Flash butterfly Rapala pherelimus Hewitson
and Burma, Moths II Taylorand Francis, London. (Lycaenidae).J Bombaynat. Hist Soc. 92: 127-128.
Smetacek, P. (1994): An Annotated List of the hawkmoths of Smetacek, P. (1998): On an unusual Endoclyta (Lepidoptera:
Kumaon, N. India (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae): A Probable Hepialidae) from Kumaon, in the northwest Himalaya, India.
CaseofFaunal Drift. Rec. zool. Surv India, Occ. Paper 156: J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 95: 136-137.
26. CORYMICA WALKER, LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE, IN THE KUMAON
HIMALAYA, WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW FORM OF DEDUCATA
C.
CAUSTOLOMARIA MOORE
Corymica Walker is a small genus ofGeometrid Himalaya, which lies between thetwotype localities.
moths that occurs from the Indian subcontinent However, in view of the observation by Wehrli
northward to Korea and Japan, and eastward to (1940) on the subspecies ofspecularia, it is possible
Sulawesi and Papua New Guinea. These moths are that vitrigera is, in fact, a good species, in which case
predominantlyyellow, with relatively long palps and a both specularia and vitrigera may occur in Kumaon,
distinctively shaped forewing, whosechieffeaturesare the latter probably in the main Himalayan range, since
an acute apex and a dorsal margin with the distal half the type locality, Dharamsala, is in the main range.
highly excised. Only males bear a large hyaline fovea
near the base ofthe forewing. Location
Hampson ( 1895)and Prout (1915) assigned three The present study was carried out in the Kumaon
species to the genus, while Wehrli (1940) took Himalaya in the state of Uttaranchal. All records are
vesiculariaWalkeroutofthe synonymy in whichthese fromtheJones Estate inthe Bhimtal Valley, 24 km from
two authors placed it, and treated it as a valid species, the district headquarters ofNainital. The elevation is
raisingthenumberofspeciestofour. Wehrli (1940)also c. 1,500 m above msl. The site lies in the outermost
suggested that the taxa treated as subspecies of range of the Himalaya and constitutes the micro-
specularia Moore would probably prove to be a good watershed betweenthe Bhimtal and Sattal lakesystems.
species, which would increase the total number of Thearea iswell forested, withtheHimalayan oak
species in the genus. Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus) and chir pine
(
Hitherto, nomothsofthisgenushad been reported (Pinas roxburghii Sarg.) as nodal species, interspersed
from the Kumaon Himalaya, although vitrigera Butler with elementsoflowelevation deciduousspecies, such
was described from Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. as Sapium insigne Trim, and Erythrina L. spp. Other
Thistaxon wastreated as a subspeciesofC. specularia species include Mallotus philippinenis Muell. Arg.,
by Prout (1915) and as a synonym of the same by Bauhinia L. spp., Phyllanthus L. sp., Pistacia L. and
Hampson (1895), whose typical form is known from Ricinus L. In addition, a large number ofexotic trees
Bengal and the eastern Himalaya. So vitrigera or and shrubs, such as tea Nerium L., and mango
specularia was to be expected in the Kumaon Mangifera L. make the area botanically diverse.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (1), Jan.-Apr. 2004 173