Arthroschista hilaralis Walker, [1859]; PED 12

• 1

  Taxonomy

  
  

  The holotype of Margaronia hilaralis Walker, 1859: 532 from Sri Lanka is in the NHM.
  
  syn. Margarodes aquosalis Snellen, [1880] 1880-1892: 66. (LepIndex) The male type from Java (Soengai, Simawoeng), is in Leiden.
  
  TS of Arthroschista Hampson, 1893: 168.

• 2

  Description

  
  

  Wing Length: 13mm - 16mm. A common and distinctive sp. The adults are a beautiful pale blue/green colour, with a brown-yellow line along the costa with two adjacent dark dots, these brown subcostal dots are characteristic of this species, Brown dots mark the veins on the margin of each wing. The males have large black hair pencils at the tip of their abdomens. There are small red marks on most abdominal tergites. The green wings are slightly blotchy, in contrast to the genus Parotis, which have uniformly coloured wings.

• 3

  Distribution & Habitat

  
  

  Sri Lanka, India (Sikkim, Assam), Burma, W. Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java), Sabah, Brunei, Sarawak, Kalimantan Barat, PNG, Louisiade Arch. (St. Aignan), Australia, China (Yunnan). Lowland to subalpine forests; <2,100m.

• 4

  Life History & Pest Status

  
  

  This sp. was a common pyralid pollinator of the flowers of Neonauclea pallida (Rubiaceae) noted by Weber (2000a, b) in Thailand. A defoliator of Neolamarkia cadamba (laran) (Rubiaceae) (Thapa, 1970, Chey, 1996). Reported as a minor pest of cocoa (Conway, 1971) Given to occasionally appearing in large numbers - a rarity among forest Lepidoptera. The outbreaks of the moth are most common in secondary forest (Chey, 1996).

• 5

  Similar spp.

  
  

  no content available.

• 6

  Unrelated Look-alikes

  
  

  Parotis sp. 2
  Parotis sp. 3

• 7

  References

  
  

  Chey, V.K. (1996) Forest Pest Insects in Sabah, Sabah Forest Record 15, 87-96.
  
  Conway, G.R. (1971) Pest [sic] of Cocoa in Sabah and their control. Kementerian Pertanian dan Perikanan Sabah, Malaysia [State Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries (Sabah, Malaysia)].
  
  Snellen, P. C. T. ([1880] 1880-1892) Lepidoptera. In Veth, P. J., (1880-1892). Midden-Sumatra. 4 (8). 92 pp., 5 pl. Leiden.
  
  RTS (1994): 189, pl. 31, fig.10.
  
  Thapa, R.S. (1970) Bionomics and control of the laran defoliator, Margaronia hilaralis Wkr. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Malayan Forester, 23 (1): 47-52.
  
  Walker, F. (1859d [May 10]) Pyralides, In; List Spec. Lepid. Ins. Coll. B. M., Cat. Lepid. Heterocera. Ser. 4, 18: 509-798.

• 8

  Genitalia

  
  

  no content available.

• 9

  DNA Barcode

  
  

  no content available.

• 10

  3D Imaging

  
  

  no content available.

• 11

  Spare

  
  

  no content available.

KEY TO TABS
(1) Taxonomy, (2) Description, (3) Distribution & Habitat, (4) Life History & Pest Status, (5) Similar spp., (6) Unrelated Look-alikes, (7) References, (8) Genitalia, (9) DNA Barcode, (10) 3D Imaging, (11) Spare