Omiodes indicata (Fabricius, 1775)

Bernard Landry, 2016, Taxonomic revision of the Spilomelinae (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae s. l.) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, Revue suisse de Zoologie 123 (2), pp. 315-399 : 361-363

Omiodes indicata (Fabricius, 1775)

Figs 41, 42 , 117 , 163

Phalaena indicata Fabricius, 1775: 640 .

Omiodes indicata (Fabricius) : Peck et al., 1998: 227. ‒ Causton et al., 2006: 141. ‒ Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2015.

Material examined: 5 ♂, 24 ♀, 3 of undetermined sex from the Galápagos Islands: – Fernandina: [no precise locality]; SW side, crater rim, GPS: 1341 m elev[ation]., S 00° 21.910’, W 91°34.034’. – Isabela: Tagus Cove; Tagus Cove, emerged ex pupa on Desmodium glabrum (Mill) DC, Leguminosae; nr Tagus Cove, 100 m elev.; V[olcan]. Darwin, 300 m elev.; 3 km N S[an]to Tómas, Agr[iculture]. Zone; ± 15 km N P[uer]to Villamil; V. Darwin, 1240 m elev. – Pinta: ± 15 m elev.; ± 50 m elev.; 200 m elev.; 400 m elev. – San Cristóbal: near Loberia, sea level, GPS: elev. 14 m, S 00° 55.149’, W 89° 36.897’. – Santa Cruz: Bahía Conway ; Charles Darwin Research Station; finca M. Guerra & S. Henderson, GPS: 186 m elev., S 00°41.997’, W 090° 19.195’, reared from Rhynchosia minima ; finca Vilema, 2 km W Bella Vista; Los Gemelos; Media Luna, pampa zone. – Santiago: Bahía Espumilla ; N side, GPS: 437 m elev., S 00° 13.316’, W 090° 43.808’; Aguacate [camp], 520 m elev.; N side, GPS: 527 m elev., S 00° 13.690°, W 90° 44.135’. Deposited in the BMNH, CDRS, CNC, and MHNG.

Diagnosis: Among Galápagos Spilomelinae this species ( Figs 41, 42 ) could only be confused with Salbia haemorrhoidalis Guenée ( Figs 51, 52 ) by virtue of their similar, mostly orange colour, although some specimens of O. indicata are mostly purplish brown ( Fig. 41 ). The 14-20 mm wingspan O. indicata differs in harbouring a thicker, more contrasting dash in the forewing cell, a smaller spot anteriorly in the cell (usually), and a submedian dash near costa separate from the wavier and more rounded submedian line in the hindwing usually. On the other hand the male abdomen of S. haemorrhoidalis has apical white and black patches on the last and penultimate segments dorsally.

Biology: In the Galápagos I reared a specimen from a pupa found on Desmodium glabrum (Mill.) DC. ( Fabaceae ) and another specimen from Rhynchosia minima (L.) DC. ( Fabaceae ), both Galápagos natives found on a large number of islands (Jaramillo Díaz & Guézou, 2015). The literature also records a wide spectrum of host plants in the Fabaceae , but also in other families ( Acanthaceae , Amaranthaceae , Annonaceae , Asteraceae , Chenopodiaceae , Cucurbitaceae , Euphorbiaceae , Lamiaceae , Malvaceae , Poaceae , Solanaceae , and Verbenaceae ) ( Gentili & Solis, 1998; Robinson et al., 2014). The Galápagos specimens were collected from a diverse range of habitats from the littoral zone up to 1240 m above sea level, and from February until May.

Distribution: This is a widespread species in the tropical regions of the world ( Gentili & Solis, 1998). Based on BMNH specimens it can be found in Cuba, Jamaica, Grenada, St Vincent, St Thomas, Santo Domingo, Trinidad, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Colombia, French Guiana, British Guiana, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Africa, Seychelles, Solomon Isl., India, Java, Taiwan. It is also widespread in the south-eastern US States ( Patterson et al., 2015). In the Galápagos it is known from Fernandina, Isabela, Pinta, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, and Santiago.

Remarks: Galápagos specimens were identified as this species based on Gentili & Solis (1998) and material in the BMNH, in which is deposited the type material of some of the synonyms, such as Nacoleia vulgalis Guenée, 1854 (TL: French Guyana, Cayenne), Botys moeliusalis Walker, 1859 (TL: Malaysia), and Botys connexalis Walker, 1866 (TL: Dominican Republic). The type material of Botys sabalis Walker, 1859 (TL: Brazil) and Botys reductalis Walker, 1866 (TL: China), also synonyms of O. indicata , could not be found in the BMNH.

Figures

Figs 41 - 48. Neotropical specimens of Spilomelinae, size not to scale. (41, 42) Omiodes indicata. (41) ♂, Galápagos, Tagus Cove, emerged ex pupa on Desmodium glabrum, 20 - 25. v. 1992, MHNG. (42) ♀, Galápagos, Pinta, ± 50 m, 20. iii. 1992, MHNG. (43) Patania silicalis ♀, Galápagos, Alcedo, NE slope, 292 m, 30. iii. 2004, MHNG. (44, 45) Penestola bufalis. (44) ♂, Galápagos, Santiago, Cerro Inn, 28. iii. 1992, MHNG. (45) ♀, Galápagos, Santa Cruz, CDRS, wall of Inverts. lab., 11 m, 6. iv. 2004, MHNG. (46, 47) Pilocrocis ramentalis. (46) ♂, Venezuela, Aragua, PN H. - Pittier, Estacion Rancho Grande, 1100 m, 15. vii. 2009, MHNG. (47) ♀, Galápagos, Santa Cruz, E. C. C. D., 6. iii. 1992, MHNG. (48) Psara chathamalis ♀, Galápagos, Santa Cruz, Bahía Conway, 14. iv. 1992, MHNG.

Figs 116 - 118. Male genitalia of Neotropical Spilomelinae, a and b from same slides, but not to scale, (a) showing the genitalia without phallus and (b), the phallus. (116) Neoleucinodes galapagensis holotype. (117) Omiodes indicata: slide MHNG- ENTO- 8698, Galápagos, Santa Cruz. (118) Palpita flegia: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8997, Brazil.

Figs 163 - 167. Female genitalia of Neotropical Spilomelinae, not to scale. (163) Omiodes indicata: slide MHNG-ENTO- 9008, Galápagos, Isabela. (164) Palpita flegia: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8998, Colombia. (165) Patania silicalis: slide MHNG- ENTO- 8990, Galápagos, Isabela. (166) Penestola bufalis: slide CNC PYR 362, Galápagos, Santa Cruz. (167) Pilocrocis ramentalis: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8695, Galápagos, San Cristóbal.

Figs 49 - 56. Neotropical specimens of Spilomelinae, size not to scale. (49, 50) Rhectocraspeda periusalis. (49) ♂, Galápagos, Santiago, Central, 700 m, 9. iv. 1992, MHNG. (50) ♀, Galápagos, Isabela, ± 15 km N Pto Villamil, 25. v. 1992, MHNG. (51, 52) Salbia haemorrhoidalis. (51) ♂, Galápagos, San Cristóbal, antiguo botadero, ca. 4 km SE Pto Baquerizo, 169 m, 22. ii. 2005, MHNG. (52) ♂, Ecuador, Pichincha, Septimo Paraiso Reserve, ± 1300 m, 8. v. 2002, MHNG. (53, 54) Samea castellalis. (53) ♀, Galápagos, Santiago, close to Caseta, 686 m, 6. iii. 2005, MHNG. (54) ♂, Galápagos, San Cristóbal, pampa zone, 15. ii. 1989, CNC. (55, 56) Samea coffea. (55) ♀ holotype, CNC. (56) ♂ paratype, Galápagos, San Cristóbal, 4 km SE Pto Baquerizo, 12. ii. 1989, CNC.