Aeolopetra sp. 1

Taxonomy

Aeolopetra sp. 1 is a widely distributed unnamed morphotype. A specimen from W. Malaysia (GTE) was illustrated as an unnamed sp. by RTS (1994: 175, pl. 26, fig.19.). Aeolopetra was tentatively transferred to the Musotiminae by Yen (1996: 295).

To date, few of these distinctive spp. have been described. A total of four Aeolopetra spp. (treated as Cybalomiinae) were known to RTS (1994); the TS, Aeolopetra phoenicobapta Hampson 1898 (TL PNG, Fergusson Is.): 615, A. lanyuensis Yen, 1996: 293 (TL Taiwan, Lanyu Is.), A. palaeanthes Meyrick, 1934 figs 1,2, 7-9, 13, (TL Fiji) and the unnamed sp. illustrated in RTS, here treated as Aeolopetra sp. 1.

Description

Aeolopetra spp. have scalloped wings reminiscent of the ‘Thorn Moths’ [Geometridae, Ennominae]. The patterning is distinctive but complicated, in white, brown and fulvous. The chestnut and brown post median mark on the FW forms a shallow triangle pointing towards the apex and not extending as a band to the inner margin. This sp. is easily distinguished from A. phoenicobapta Hampson 1898 and A. lanyuensis Yen, 1996: 293-294, figs 1-2, 7-9, 13 but more closely resembles Aeolopetra sp. 2.

References

• Hampson, G. (1898) A revision of the moths of the subfamily Pyraustinae and the family Pyralidae. Part 1, Proc. zool. soc. Lond.: 590-760.
• [RTS] Robinson, G.S., Tuck, K.R. & Shaffer, M. (1994) A Field Guide to the Smaller Moths of South-East Asia, Malaysian Nature Society Kuala Lumpur & Natural History Museum, London, 311 pp. 51 text figs, 32 pls.
• [RTS] (1994): 175, pl. 26, fig.19.
• Yen, S-H. (1996) Aeolopetra lanyuensis Yen, a new pyralid moth (Pyralidae: Musotiminae) from Taiwan. Tinea, 14: 29-299.
• Schulze, C.H. (2000) Auswirkungen anthropogener Störungen auf die Diversität von Herbivoren. (Analys von Nachtfalterzönosen entlang von Habitatgradienten in Ost-Malaysia). Unpubl. PhD Thesis, University of Bayreuth, Germany: 350 pp.