Botyodes asialis Guenée

Family: Crambidae
Subfamily: Spilomelinae
Tribe: Margaroniini
Genus: Botyodes
Distribution: Africa S,C, W, E. ( D.R.Congo, Equatorial Guinea , Sierra leone, S. Africa, Zimbabwe), Madagascar, Lorenzo Marques, Reunion Is., Pakistan, India (Maharashtra, W. Bengal, Sikkim), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam,W, Malaysia, Singapore, Sabah, Brunei, Sarawak, Sumatra, Palawan, Philippines, China (S) Taiwan, Japan, PNG, I.J., Australia (Q), Samoa.
Habitat: Lowland to sub-alpine <2,1030m.
Wing Length: 24mm

Taxonomy

The holotype of Botyodes asialis Guenée, 1854: 321 is from Central India; E. India/Bangladesh [‘Bengale’].

syn. Botyodes liliputalis Strand 1912 [1913]: 76, infrasubsp. (Shaffer et al. 1996). TL W. Africa.
syn. Botys chrysotalis Mabille, 1880b cviii-cix. TL Madagascar (Globiz). Revalidated as the TS of Botyodes Guenée: 321 by Singh et al. (2019).

Description

A large and distinctive orange and reddish brown species. There is slight sexual dimorphism, The males have prominent dark anal hair pencils. Meroctena tullalis Walker and M. staintonii Lederer are very similar but much smaller. The males of these spp. are easily distinguished by their plumose antenna and the females have a small elongate dark spot on the subcosta of the HW which in the much larger B. asialis is represented by a discocellular mark. See RTS (1994: 192, pl.32, fig.18 (male)).

Life History

Polyphagous on a wide variety of food plants: Figs Ficus spp. (Moraceae); Casearia (Salicaceae); Diospyros; (Ebenaceae); Ehretia (Boraginaceae); Glycosmis (Rutaceae); Premna; (Lamiaceae); Tabermaenmontana (Apocynaceae); Urena (Malvaceae); Michelia (Magnoliaceae); Tinospora (Menispermaceae). The early life stages are described in the Sevastopullo manuscript (S.58) held in the in the Entomology Library of the BMNH London. Moore, F. (1884-1887 pl. 183, figs 1 & 1a), illustrates the larvum.

References

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.
Moore, F. ([1886] 1884-1887) Lepid. Ceylon., Vol 3, xv + 578pp, pls.154 [144]-215 L. Reeve & Co., London.
Strand, E. (1912 [1913]) Zoologisches Ergenbisse der Expedition des Herrn G. Tessmann nach süd -Kamerun und Spanisch-Guinea. Lepidoptera IV, (Verschiedene Familien). Arch. Naturgesch., Berlin. 78A (1912) (12): 30-84. [In German]
Strand, E. ([1913] 1912) Zoologisches Ergenbisse der Expedition des Herrn G. Tessmann nach Sud-Kamerun und Spanisch-Guinea. Lepidoptera IV, Arch. Naturgesch., Berlin. 78 (1912) A12: 30-84. [In German]
[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) Robinson, G.S., Tuck, K.R. & Shaffer, M.: 192, pl.32, fig.18 (male).
Shaffer, M., Nielsen, E.S. & Horak, M. (1996) Pyraloidea. 164-199 in Nielson, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera 4: i-xiv, 1-529 & CD-ROM
Singh, N., Kirti, J. S., Singh, H. & Ranjan, R. (2019) Two new genera for the Botyodes species complex (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae). Zootaxa 4623 (2): 387-395.
Mabille, P. (1880b): Note sur une collection de Lépidoptères recueillis à Madagascar. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 23:104-109. [In French]