Chalcidoptera emissalis Walker

Taxonomy

The female holotype of Botys emissalis Walker, 1865 [1866]: 1421 T.L. Solomon Is (Aru). The type #1031 is in the Oxford U.M.N.H.

• syn. Analthes crinipes Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875, pl. 134 fig 43. T.L. Amboina. syn. n. (Shaffer et al. 1996);
• syn. Chalcidoptera rubra Butler, 1887: 120. T.L. Solomon Is. (Aru). Syn n. (Shaffer et al. 1996). The T.S. of Chalcidoptera Butler, 1887;
• - ? syn. Analthes pyrrhocosma Meyrick 1894: 460. TL S.E. Borneo. syn n. (Shaffer et al. 1996).

Description

An extremely sexually dimorphic species, a characteristic of most Chalcidoptera spp., with bright reddish brown males and mainly yellow females. There is some variability in the extent of yellow spotting on the males which have longer abdomens. The males have long fawn anal hair scales. Schulze (2000) taxon #506. C. pyrrhocosma Meyrick is said to be syn. (Shaffer et al. 1996) but there are similar specimens with slightly different FW apical patterning. So we illustrate those separately as C. pyrrhocosma? The association of male and female in many Chalcidoptera spp. needs re-confirmation. See Chalcidoptera pryeri Hampson, 1898. A morphotype from the Molluccas, resembling a male of this sp. is larger with a different wing shape and is probably not conspecific.

References

• Walker, F. (1865 [1866 Jan 13]) List Spec Lepid. Ins. Coll. B. M., Cat. Lepid. Heterocera. 34, (Suppl. 4): 1121-1533.
• Felder, C., Felder, R. & Rogenhofer A. F. (1875) Reise öste Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jarhen 1857, 1858, 1859 (Zool.), 2; 2 Abtheilung. Lepidoptera 2; 9 + 10+ 20 pp , 140 pls. Wien.
• Butler, A.G. (1887) Description of New Species of Heterocerous Lepidoptera (Pyralites) from the Solomon Islands. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. Ser. 5., 20, (116): 114-124.
• Meyrick, E. (1894) XVIII On Pyralidina from the Malay Archipelago. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1894: 455-480.
• Hampson, G. (1898) A revision of the moths of the subfamily Pyraustinae and the family Pyralidae. Part 1, Proc. zool. soc. Lond.: 590-760.
• Shaffer, M., & Nielsen, E.S. & Horak, M. (1996) Pyraloidea (In Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangji (Eds.)), Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia; 164-199, CSIRO, Australia.
• 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.