Agrotera nemoralis Scopoli

Taxonomy

The holotype of Phalaena nemoralis Scopoli, 1763: 242 is from Europe. comb. n. as the TS of Agrotera Schrank 1802: 163.

• syn. Phalaena erosalis Fabricius, 1794: 236

T.L. France (Globiz)

Globiz also treats Agrotera posticalis Wileman, 1911: 374-375

T.L. Japan, Iyo, Ohoki

a synonym (Shibuya 1928: 27) but that is probably incorrect.

Description

A. nemoralis Scopoli and A. posticalis Wileman, 1911 are similar and were considered syn. by Shibuya (1927). However the FW fasciation is slightly different. A. posticalis has a a small, dark, ‘c-shaped’ stigma. A. nemoralis has a differently shaped post median line and orange reniform spot. Li et al. (2009) figure the genitalia of both and those of the males are very different (396: Pl. LII, figs 205 & 206). A. nemoralis apparently has populations in two areas, Europe & the Far East but details of this distribution are uncertain until routine identification is improved and there may be more than one sp. involved. Probably not from Borneo but reported from the Nicobar Is. by Sivaperuman et al. 2012 but that may be incorrect as it foodplants are not recorded there.

Life History

In Europe the foodplant is primarly Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) but Betula spp. (Birch) (Betulaceae) and Castanea sativa (Fagaceae) are also given by Emmet (1979: 211).

References

• Scopoli, G.A. (1763). Entomologia carniolica exhibens insecta Carnioliae indigena et distributa in ordines, genera, species, varietates. Methodo Linnaeana. Vindobonae [Vienna]. J. Trattner, xxxvi + 420 pp. [In Latin] + [42 pl. publ. separately].
• Schrank, F. von P. (1798-1803 [1802]) Fauna boica durchgedachte Geschichte der in Baiern einheimischen und zahmen Thiere, Vol. 2b, Abt. 2. J.W. Krüll, Ingoldstadt. 412pp [In German].
• Wileman, A. E. (1911) XV New and unrecorded species of Lepidoptera Heterocera from Japan, Tr. Roy. Ent. Soc. 59 (2): 189-407, pls. 30, 31.
• Shibuya, J. (1927). The systematic study on the Formosan Pyralidae. Rep. Fac. Agric. Hokkaido Univ. 22 (1): 300 pp., pls. 1-9.
• Emmet, A.M. (1979) [ed] A field guide to the smaller British Lepidoptera 1-271, Brit. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc., London.
• Li, H. H., Ren, Y. D., Zhang, D. D., Du, X. C., Li, W. C., & Ping Y. (2009) Insect Fauna of Henan, Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea. Science Press, Beijing. 440 pp.
• Sivaperuman, C., Shah, S.K., Raghunathan C., Chandra, K. & Venkataraman, K. (2012) Nine new records of moth from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Biological Forum - an International Journal, 4(1): 23-26