Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2025 | 17(3): 26727–26730
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online)
| ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9360.17.3.26727-26730
#9360 | Received 23
August 2024 | Final received 05 March 2025 | Finally accepted 11 March 2025
Rediscovery of the
gypsy moth Lymantria kanara
Collenette, 1951 (Insecta:
Lepidoptera: Erebidae) from Kerala, India, after 73
years and its taxonomic redescription
P.K. Adarsh 1 & Abhilash Peter 2
1,2
Entomo
Taxonomy Lab, Department of Zoology, Christ College (Affiliated to University
of Calicut), Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, Kerala 680125,
India.
1 9804@christci.in,
2 abhilashpeter@christcollegeijk.edu.in (corresponding author)
Editor: Sanjay Sondhi, Titli Trust, Dehradun, India. Date of
publication: 26 March 2025 (online & print)
Citation: Adarsh, P.K. & A. Peter (2025). Rediscovery of the gypsy moth Lymantria
kanara Collenette, 1951
(Insecta: Lepidoptera: Erebidae)
from Kerala, India, after 73 years and its taxonomic redescription. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(3): 26727–26730. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9360.17.3.26727-26730
Copyright: © Adarsh & Peter 2025. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to Head of the institution, Christ College (Autonomous) Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, Kerala, for providing the facilities for research. The first author offers sincere gratitude to UGC, Government of India, for financial support in the form of UGC junior research
fellowship (886/ (CSIR UGC NET JUNE 2018)).
Abstract: The species, Lymantria kanara Collenette, 1951, belonging to the family Erebidae, subfamily Lymantriinae,
is a rare taxon considered to be endemic to southern India. Here, we provide
information on the recently rediscovered L. kanara
from Kerala, India, after a 73-year hiatus. Prior to this study, all
published research on this taxon was based on catalogues or the type specimens
housed in museums with scanty descriptions. Hence, this study provides a
detailed taxonomic description of an adult male and its genitalia, to easily
identify the species.
Keywords: Agricultural crops,
bipectinate antenna, broad sacculus, light trap, Lymantriinae, Lymantriini, male
genitalia, Palakkad, rare species, Singappara forest,
southern India.
Lymantriinae is one of the enigmatic subfamilies of the
family Erebidae due to various reasons such as sexual
dimorphism, interspecific variations, and geographical variations. Another
important reason for the complexity of the subfamily is that many species are
insufficiently illustrated with only a small number of specimens in museum
collections. This is a species-rich subfamily in spite of a smaller number of
genera (Schintlmeister 2004). Many species of this
subfamily are predators of various agricultural crops (Swafvan
& Sureshan 2022). This group of moths was earlier
placed in the family Lymantriidae, which was then
relegated to the subfamily status by Zahiri et al. (2012) based on a
molecular and phylogenetic study. Hübner (1819)
established the genus Lymantria, using Phalaena monacha
Linnaeus as the type species. It is believed to be distributed in Asia, North
America, Africa, and the Indo-Australian tropics, with a higher concentration
of species from the Indo-Australian tropics (Holloway 1999). Hampson listed 18 Lymantria species from British India
including Ceylon and Burma (Hampson [1893]). This genus is currently a member
of the subfamily Lymantriinae and tribe Lymantriini. Globally, there are about 167 species grouped
into 12 subgenera, i.e., Porthetria, Papuatria, Lymantria,
Beatria, Nyctria,
Syntria, Pantria,
Collentria, Spinotria,
Sarantria, Griveaudtria,
and Pyramocera. Four species, i.e., Lymantria nussi Schintlmeister, L. vinacea
Moore, L. todara Moore, and L. kanara Collenette, are
listed as endemic to southern India (Schintlmeister
2004). The lectotype of L. todara,
designated by Gupta (1984), was collected from southern India. Later, reports
of L. todara from Maharashtra and Goa
have been recorded based on the Moths of India website (Sondhi
et al. 2024). Lymantria nussi,
described by Schintlmeister (2004), was distributed
in three states: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. The holotype of the species
L. vinacea was designated from southern
India. However, further studies on this species are not available. The species,
L. kanara, was first described
by Collenette (1951) from Kanara, southern India
(Kanara was referred to for the western coastal plains of present-day Uttara
Kannada and Dakshina Kannada at the time of British
India). There is no record of the species after the original description by Collenette (1951).
Schintlmeister (2004), while reviewing the genus Lymantria, examined the type repositories and
based on the genitalia study, placed numerous Lymantria
species under a new subgenus, Collentria,
with Lymantria grisea
as the type species. This subgenus includes only seven species, viz., L.
grisea Moore, 1879; L. cryptochloea Collenette,
1932; L. barlowi Schintlmeister,
1994; L. caliginosa Collenette,
1933; L. fumida Butler, 1877; L.
fergusoni Schintlmeister,
2004 and L. kanara Collenette,
1951. The species, L. kanara has been
rediscovered after 73 years in Kerala, India. Hence, a detailed taxonomic redescription of the adult male, along with male genitalia
characters is also provided in this paper. This study represents the only
record of the species apart from the holotype designated by Collenette
(1951).
Materials and Methods
The adult male
specimen was collected from the Singappara forest
range (Collection permit no. KFDHQ-3342/2023-CWW/WL10), Palakkad District,
Kerala on the 29 February 2024 (10.975 0N, 76.642 0E)
(Figure 1). The collection was done using the light sheet trap method. The
collected specimen was pinned, dried, labeled, and deposited in the insect
collection of Entomo Taxonomy Lab (ETL), Christ
College (Autonomous), Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, Kerala.
Genitalia preparation follows the method of Robinson (1976). The genitalia was examined under the Labomed Luxeo 4D stereozoom microscope
and identified based on the original description by Schintlmeister
(2004). The ArcGIS software version 10.8. was used to generate the specimen
collection locality map. The terminology followed for morphological description
is based on Hampson ([1893]), Holloway (1999), and Schintlmeister
(2004).
Results
Systematic status
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Latreille
Family: Erebidae Leach, 1815
Subfamily: Lymantriinae Hampson, 1893
Tribe: Lymantriini Hampson, 1893
Genus: Lymantria Hübner, 1819
Subgenus: Collentria Schintlmeister,
2004
Type Species: Lymantria kanara Collenette, 1951
Lymantria kanara
Collenette, 1951
Holotype: Southern
India, Kanara, in British Museum of Natural History, London
Lymantria kanara Collenette,
1951. Some new species of Lymantriidae in the British
Museum (Natural History) Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (12) 4 (46).
Material examined: 1
Male, India, Kerala, Singappara, Palakkad District,
10.975 0N, 76.642 0E; 960 m; 29-ii-2024; Adarsh P.K., CZR1000.
Redescription of Male (Image 1): Wing expanse 3.5 cm.
Forewing length 1.6 cm. Head small, ochreous brown,
frons and vertex, dark brown; ridge between vertex and collar white; collar
dark brown; tegula with white and grey hairs; eyes smooth and black; palpi
stout, clothed with brown and grey hairs, palpi dark brown near to compound
eyes; third segment of palpi upright and comparatively large; proboscis well
developed; antennae brown with long and thick bipectinations
with pinkish hairs at base; abdomen covered with pale pinkish hairs and without
lateral black-brown spots; fore legs and mid legs densely covered with light
brown hairs except tarsus; hind leg with two pairs of tibial spurs and
comparatively with less hairs; forewing short and broad, apex rounded, outer
margin (termen) elongated, inner margin (dorsum)
short; ground colour brownish with two distinct black
spots on tornus and discal area; costa with eight
distinct black patches, 4th medial and 5th antemedial
black patches comparatively large and prominent; area between medial costal
marking, antemedial costal marking and the discal
spot relatively dense with black scales; an obscure basal and sub-basal wavy
blackish band present, subterminal and terminal wavy blackish bands well
defined; termen with alternative clusters of black
and greyish hairs from apex to tornus area; hindwing ground color pale grey
with black shade towards terminal area, anal margin densely haired with pinkish
tinge, cilia whitish-grey. Underside without bands, markings on costa and outer
margin intact, base of costal margin with few pinkish hairs; forewing vein Cu1,
M3 and M2 arising close to lower angle of cell and M1 from below upper angle,
radial veins (R1, R2, R3 and R4) stalked; hindwing Cu1, M3 and M2 arising close
to lower angle of cell, M2 and R from upper angle.
Male genitalia (Image
2): Small and stout structure. Uncus well sclerotized and pointed at tip,
minute hairs present on lateral side; tegumen with a
spine-like process pointing towards valvae ventrally;
valvae coalesced, basal part (sacullus)
moderately sclerotized and broad with two major dorsal and ventral processes
distally; dorsal digitiform process with pointed end relatively longer than the
spine-like processes on tegumen; ventral process
broad at the base, distally tapering towards one side with a hooked tip; small
lateral ridge near the base of valvae possess longer
hairs pointing posteriorly; vinculum elongated; saccus
‘v’ shaped; aedeagus short, stout and slightly curved without spines.
Discussion
Lymantria kanara can be easily
distinguished from other congeners by the presence of long and dense brown
bipectinate antennae. The presence of distinct black spots on the tornus and discal area is another striking, distinctive character.
Broad and strong sacculus is the unique male
genitalia character of L. kanara. Lymantria kanara can be
easily differentiated from other endemic species by the following features: a)
an extensive black area is present in the post-basal and post-medial region of
costa in L. nussi which is absent in L.
canara; b) forewing of L. todara is pure white with prominent black
markings and with yellowish-white abdomen; in L. kanara
forewing is not pure white with black markings and abdomen is covered with pale
pinkish hairs. Based on the data available, the known distribution of L.
kanara can be more precisely stated as
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (Schintlmeister 2004).
Through this study, Kerala is added as a new distribution record for this rare
species.
Conclusion
After 73 years, the
species L. kanara has been
rediscovered, and recorded for the first time in the state of Kerala, India.
All published information on this species before this study was based on Collenette’s original research or type specimens deposited
in museums with minimal annotations. Therefore, this work presents a thorough
taxonomic redescription of the adult male along with
characteristics of its genitalia. This study is the sole known account of the
species outside of the type designated by Collenette
in 1951.
FOR
FIGURE & IMAGES - - CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF
References
Butler, A.G. (1877). Descriptions of new
species of Heterocera from Japan. Part I The
Annals and Magazine of Natural History (4th series) 20: 393–404.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222937708682255
Collenette, C.L. (1932). The Lymantriidae of the Malay Peninsula. Novitates
Zoologicae 38: 49–102, pl. 1.
Collenette, C.L. (1933). Notes on the Genus Lymantria Hbn. (Lyman-triidee), with descriptions of new species. Novitates Zoologicae
39: 21–33.
Collenette, C.L. (1951). Some new species of
Lymantriiae in the British Museum (Natural History). Annals
and Magazine of Natural History 4(46): 1026–1040.
Gupta, S.L. (1984). Studies on the male
genital armature of some Indian Lymantriidae (Noctuoidea: Lepidoptera). Bulletin of Entomology
25(2): 124–130.
Hampson, G.F. ([1893]). The Fauna of
British India including Ceylon and Burma, Moths, Vol. 1. Taylor and
Francis, London, 464 pp.
Holloway, J.D. (1999). The moths of Borneo,
Part 5. Family Lymantriidae. Malayan Nature
Journal 53: 1–188.
Moore, F. (1879). Descriptions of new
Genera and Species of Asiatic Lepidoptera Heterocera.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (47)1: 387–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1879.tb02671.x
Robinson, G.S. (1976). The preparation of
slides of Lepidoptera genitalia with special reference to the Microlepidoptera.
Entomologist’s Gazette 27(2): 127–132.
Schintlmeister, A. (1994). An annotated and
illustrated check-list of the Lymantriidae of Sumatra
with descriptions of new species (Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae).
Heterocera Sumatrana
7(2): 113–180.
Schintlmeister, A. (2004). The taxonomy of the
genus Lymantria Hubner,
[1819] (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, 248 pp.
Sondhi, S.Y., Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy & K. Kunte
(2024). Moths of India, v. 3.73. Indian Foundation for Butterflies.
https://www.mothsofindia.org. Accessed 30 July 2024.
Swafvan, K. & P.M. Sureshan (2022). Erebid
moths in the agroecosystems of northern Kerala. Indian Journal of Entomology
84(2): 317–331. https://doi.org/10.55446/IJE.2021.260
Zahiri, R., J.D.
Holloway, I.J. Kitching, J.D. Lafontaine, M. Mutanen
& N. Wahlberg. (2012). Molecular phylogenetics of Erebidae
(Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea). Systematic Entomology
37(1): 102–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00607.x