Bocchoris inspersalis Zeller

Taxonomy

The female holotype of Botys inspersalis Zeller, 1852: 33 is from South Africa South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal [Natal]; Orange [Gariep] River; Limpopo River; Pietermaritzburg [Bosjesmansrand]. It is in the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Genitalia Prep slide RM7152). Comb. nov. to Aediodes Guenée 1854 (Lederer 1863: 191), comb. nov. to Bocchoris Moore: ([1886] 1884-7: 272) as the TS.

• syn. Desmia afflictalis Guenée 1854: 190-191, pl. 5 fig. 4. T.L. Ethiopia [Abyssinie] (Globiz);
• syn. Aediodes bootanalis Walker 1865 [1866]: 1298-1299; TL (Bootan) [sic] [Bhutan];
• syn. Hymenia pusaensis Bhattacherjee, 1973: 47 figs 1a, b; TL India (Pusa) Ms syn n. (Shaffer 1985 Lepindex Card).
• syn. Bochoris quaternalis Lederer, 1963: 434, 483, Pl. 17, fig. 1. TL Amboina. TS of Aediodina Strand 1919: 133 a genus established by Strand for Aediodes Guenée sensu Lederer, 1863 (Fletcher & Nye 1984: 4). The syntype Bocchoris quaternalis Lederer, 1863 from Amboina, in the BMNH, is in poor condition.
• syn. Desmia stellaris Butler, 1879: 73 pl. 58 fig 15; TL Japan;

We consider that Aediodina Strand should be regarded as a junior subjective syn of Bocchoris Moore: ([1886] 1884-7 ms stat. rev.

• Nec. syn. Chabula Moore: ([1886] 1884-7: 317.

Aediodes discrepans Butler, 1887: 117, TL Solomon Is. ( = Aediodes dissimulalis Rothchild 1915: 128. TL Irian Jaya (Uttakwa River)) and Bocchoris ciliata Swinhoe, 1894: 206, TL India (Assam [Meghalaya]) are very similar.

Description

The dotted sable. One of several white-spotted black Bocchoris spp. Only Bocchoris inspersalis Zeller 1852 has a white streak nr. the HW tornus along with several white spots on the FW. The big white spot near the FW apex connects to costa is also distinctive. The black abdomen is ringed by white on the first, fifth and eighth segment. A long tuft of white scales project backwards from behind the eyes. The patagium is also white scaled dorsally with a white collar on the underside. Several specimens in the BMNH series of Bochoris [Aediodina] quaternalis Lederer do not closely resemble the holotype and they may represent unnamed spp. of Bocchoris. See Li et al. who illustrate the male and female genitalia(Li et al. 2009) Pl. XV figs 207; Pl. LII, Fig 207; Pl. LXXXIX, Fig. 207.

Life History

It is reported to feed on Arachis hypogaea (Fabaceae) [Peanut or Groundnut]

References

• Zeller, P.C. (1852) Lepidoptera microptera quae J. A. Wahlberg in caffrorum terra legit, Stockholm: Norstedt 120 pp.
• Guenée, A. (1854) Deltoïdes et pyralites. In Boisduval, J.A. & Guenée, A., Hist. nat. des Insectes (Spec. gén. Lépid.) Vol. 8, 448pp. + 10 pls., Librarie Encyclopédique de Roret: Paris.
• Lederer, J., (1863) Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Pyralidinen. Wien. entomol. Monat. 7: 243-280, 331-502, pl. 2-18.
• Walker ([1866 Jan 13] 1865) List Spec Lepid. Ins. Coll. B. M., Cat. Lepid. Heterocera. 34, (Suppl. 4): 1121-1533.
• Butler, A.G. (1879) Illustrations of typical specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the British Museum. Part III: xvii, 82 pp. Pls. 41-60.
• Moore, F. ([1886] 1884-1887) Lepid. Ceylon., Vol 3, xv + 578pp, pls.154 [144]-215 L. Reeve & Co., London.
• Strand, E. (1918): 89. in H. Sauter’s Formosa-Ausbeute: Pyralididae, Subfam. Pyraustinae., Dt. ent. Z., Iris, Dresden, 32.
• Bhattacharjee, N. S. (1973) A new species of the genus Hymenia Hübner. (lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from India. Indian J. of Ent., 35 (1): 47-49.
• Fletcher, D.S. & Nye, I.W.B. (1984) in Nye, I.W.B. (Ed.). The Generic Names of Moths of the World, Vol. 5 Pyraloidea. BMNH, 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..
• Swinhoe, C. (1894b) New species of Pyrales from the Khasia Hills. XXIX. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., Ser 6, 14 (81): 197-210.