The
hitherto undescribed male of Calocalpe abraxidia (Hampson, 1895) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae:Larentiinae)
Peter Smetacek
The Retreat, Jones Estate, P.O.Bhimtal, Nainital, Uttarakhand 263136 India
Email: petersmetacek@rediffmail.com
Date of publication (online): 26 July 2010
Date of publication (print): 26 July 2010
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: Krushnamegh Kunte
Manuscript details:
Ms # o2275
Received 30 July 2009
Final revised received 20 July 2010
Finally accepted 21 July 2010
Citation: Smetacek, P. (2010). The
hitherto undescribed male of Calocalpe abraxidia (Hampson,
1895) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae).Journal
of Threatened Taxa 2(8): 1103-1104.
Copyright: © Peter Smetacek 2010. Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium
for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate
credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Dr. Ian J. Kitching at
the Natural History Museum, London, for information on Hampson’sfemale type in the collection there and to the RuffordSmall Grant Foundation, U.K. for enabling me to undertake this study.
There are many Asian moths that are
known from only a few specimens. Calocalpe abraxidia was described by Hampson (1895) in the genus Larentia Treitschke, based on a single female specimen
in Coll. Knyvett from Sikkim. This specimen is currently in the collection
of the Natural History Museum, London. Although the male was not known at the time, Hampson(1895) placed it, along with the species hypolopha Hampson,
in the section b3 of the genus Larentia, distinguished by the presence of
a thick tuft of hair on the underside of the hindwingabove the middle of vein 1b in males.
Prout (in Seitz 1915) included abraxidia in the genus Calocalpe Hübner,
which is distinguished from the closely allied Triphosa Steph. by the dense tuft of hair on the underside of the hindwing above the middle of vein 1b in males. He noted that the species was known from a
single specimen (unfortunately a female) and it probably occurred at great
elevation in Sikkim.
Following is the description of the
male of this species, based on a single specimen recorded from the Kumaon Himalaya, west of Nepal.
Calocalpe abraxidia (Hampson)
1895. Larentia abraxidia, Hampson,Fauna
of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Moths 3: 372.
1915. Calocalpe abraxidia, Seitz (ed.), Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde, 12: 329, pl. 34c.
Material Examined
Allotype: 1 male 29.vii.2007, Gagar,
District Nainital, Uttarakhand,
India, 2400m, Leg., Coll. et Det. Peter Smetacek.
Forewing Length: 21mm
Expanse: 46mm.
Distribution: India: Gagar, Nainital District, Kumaon, Uttarakhand; Sikkim.
Description
Head
black, collar orange; antennae ciliate; thorax orange with paired dorsal black
spots on prothorax and metathorax. Abdomen orange with paired dorsal and lateral black spots and a series
of ventral black spots. Forewing recto fuscous with some orange suffusion
at base; subbasal, double antemedial,
double medial, double postmedial and double submarginal waved white lines, the medial pair obsolete
below vein 2 and rather indistinct above it, the submarginalpair reduced to white specks above vein 4; marginal black line interrupted by
white veins. Cilia chequeredon lower half of wing margin.
Hindwing recto white slightly suffused with black on basal and inner
part of wing; base suffused with orange; cellspotblack; double grey submarginal waved bands; a
marginal black line. Cilia chequered grey and white.
Forewing verso grey, the base suffused with
orange. Cellspot black, a broad white postmedial band with waved edges, extending to margin
between veins 3 and 4. A marginal black line.
Hindwing verso white, the base orange, costagrey, cellspot black, a thick tuft of black hair in
the fold of the wing along vein 1b. Four
dark marks along inner margin. Incomplete submarginalgrey bands; marginal line black.
Remarks
The single specimen was attracted
to mercury vapour lamp reflected off a whitewashed
wall at around 2300hr. The flight was
erratic and it kept to the edges of the wall furthest from the light. It settled on the ground after much
fluttering about.
The specimen examined differs from
the female holotype illustrated on plate 34c in Seitz
(1915) in a few small points, which could be ascribed to individual variation
rather than sexual dimorphism: these are, the white area on the forewing seems
to be clearer in the female and rather more variegated in the specimen
examined; on the hindwing recto, the submarginalbands are rather better developed in the male specimen examined.
Although Prout(in Seitz 1915) observed, “probably from great elevation”, the habitat is
clearly not at great elevation, but at 2400m. The species seems to be a
resident of broadleaf subtropical forests of Himalayan Oak (Quercus leucotrichophora and Q. floribunda) above 2000m. It has never been recorded during the past 35
years from Q. leucotrichophora forest at 1500m elevation.
There appears to be a single brood during
the monsoon, since the only specimen obtained was during the rainy season,
although the site was surveyed at all seasons except winter
REFERENCES
Hampson, G.F. (1895). The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and
Burma, Moths Vol. 3. Taylor and Francis, London, 28+546pp.
Seitz, A. (ed.) (1915). Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde, II Abteilung: Die Gross-Schmetterlingedes indoaustralischen Faunengebeites.
Band 12: Die indoaustrasischen Spanner. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart, 356pp+41+1pl.