Artitropa Holland 1896

Artitropa Holland, 1896 This genus is restricted to the Afrotropical Region, including the Comoro Islands and Madagascar. It was established by Holland (1896) with erinnys Trimen as type species. Riley (1925) and Evans (1937) both revised the genus, and by the time Ackery et al. (1995) published Carcasson’s catalogue, eight species were recognised, three from Madagascar and five from mainland Africa. Further species have since been described from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and from São Tomé and Principe. In view of subsequent observations and collections by ABRI, the genus is overdu... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Cock, Matthew J. W.
Congdon, T. Colin E.
Collins, Steve C.
Dokumenttyp: other
Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
Schlagwörter: Biodiversity / Taxonomy / Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Lepidoptera / Hesperiidae / Artitropa
Sprache: unknown
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26728535
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://zenodo.org/record/6527924

Artitropa Holland, 1896 This genus is restricted to the Afrotropical Region, including the Comoro Islands and Madagascar. It was established by Holland (1896) with erinnys Trimen as type species. Riley (1925) and Evans (1937) both revised the genus, and by the time Ackery et al. (1995) published Carcasson’s catalogue, eight species were recognised, three from Madagascar and five from mainland Africa. Further species have since been described from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and from São Tomé and Principe. In view of subsequent observations and collections by ABRI, the genus is overdue for a further revision, for which the life history information reported here should be useful. Riley (1925) commented on the ‘preponderance’ of females in his material. Of the 86 A. comus (Stoll) and A. erinnys Trimen he examined, there were 52 females and 34 males. Reared material of A. milleri Riley at ABRI suggests if anything a preponderance of males. It is likely that the caterpillars and pupae of females are slightly larger than those of the males and so may take slightly longer to complete development; in which case, where a brood of caterpillars develop from ova laid on one occasion by one female, it is possible to make a collection after the male pupae have emerged and obtain a preponderance of females. Riley (1925) illustrates the pupae and final instar caterpillar skins of A. erinnys vansomereni Riley and A. comus (including A. reducta Riley), and discusses the differences in the markings of the head capsules. The ova of all Artitropa spp. treated here are similar, and we have not documented any specific differences. All species seem to have ova of a similar size, but we have only documented the size for collections of A. erinnys vansomereni. Larsen (1991, 2005) anticipates that all species of the genus feed on Dracaena spp. and our experience suggests he is correct. Larsen (1991) also generalises that they fly in the morning, evening and on dull days. Adults are rarely seen on the wing, although the early ...