Terastia meticulosalis Guenée, 1854

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 : 391-393

Terastia meticulosalis Guenée, 1854

Figs 67, 68 , 133 , 179

Terastia meticulosalis Guenée, 1854: 212 . ‒ Peck et al., 1998: 227. ‒ Causton et al., 2006: 141. ‒ Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2015.

Material examined:

Holotype: ♀ ( BMNH).

Other specimens: 11 ♂, 12 ♀, 17 of undetermined sex from the Galápagos Islands: – Daphne : [no more precise locality]. – Pinta: ± 50 m elev[ation]. – Santa Cruz: Charles Darwin Research Station; casa L. Roque- Albelo & V. Cruz, GPS: 137 m elev., 00° 42.595’, W 90° 19.196’; Finca Vilema, 2 km W Bella Vista; Horneman Farm, 220 m; [no precise locality], on Cordia lutea (Boraginaceae) flower. – Santiago: Los Jaboncillos, 500 m, open Zanthoxylum forest. Deposited in BMNH, CAS, CDRS, CNC, and MHNG.

Diagnosis: This large species (wingspan: 25-39 mm) will separate easily from other species of Spilomelinae in the Galápagos by virtue of the narrow brown forewing with an oblique brown band from the middle of the dorsum and reaching Sc+R1 before the middle of the costa, preceded below Sc+R1 by a low, dark brown to black triangle ( Figs 67, 68 ). The costal margin of the broad, mostly white hindwing is distinctly sinuate, broadly concave just beyond middle.

Biology: Most reports of larval host plant are from Erythrina species ( Fabaceae ) ( Robinson et al., 2014). Sourakov (2013) mentions that adult size depends on the generation and diet of the caterpillars. He states: ‘For instance, in Florida, the spring generation that feeds on seeds was shown to be larger than the summer and fall generations that feed inside the stem.’ Stemfeeding larvae produce a characteristic dying-off of the tip of the plant. The caterpillar is mostly pale, cream coloured with a darker prothoracic shield and dark brown to black head. Pupation occurs in a loose doublelayered cocoon as in Agathodes designalis . Egg laying behaviour is unknown. In the Galápagos specimens have been collected from sea level to 500 m in elevation from all months of the year except May and December. Six species of Erythrina occur on the Galápagos, all of which have been introduced for their ornamental value except Erythrina velutina Willd. , which is considered native on the archipelago (Jaramillo Díaz & Guézou, 2015).

Distribution: From specimens in the BMNH and MHNG this species is found in Haiti (type locality), Jamaica, Santo Domingo, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina. It is also found in the Nearctic region [southern US States ( Patterson et al., 2015, Sourakov et al., 2016)]. On the Galápagos this species has been found so far only on the islands of ‘Daphne’, Pinta, Santa Cruz, and Santiago.

Remarks: The dissected female holotype in the BMNH was examined to identify the Galápagos specimens. The Daphne island record is from a CDRS notebook note pertaining to a CDRS specimen labelled ‘78’. This note also mentions Media luna and the CDRS on Santa Cruz, as well as collecting months, but which Daphne island, either Minor or Major, is not specified. As shown by the habitus illustrations ( Figs 67, 68 ), the colour is variable and some specimens have a warmer, chestnut brown pattern. Based on recent work by Sourakov et al. (2016), Terastia meticulosalis can no longer be considered a pantropical species, specimens from Asia and Africa representing different species.

Figures

Figs 65 - 72. Neotropical specimens of Spilomelinae, size not to scale. (65, 66) Synclera jarbusalis. (65) ♂, Brazil, Bahía, Camacan, Res. Serra Bonita, 800 m, 8. iv. 2011, MHNG. (66) ♀, Venezuela, Aragua, PN H. - Pittier, Paso Portachuelo, 1136 m, 21. vii. 2009, MHNG. (67, 68) Terastia meticulosalis. (67) ♀, Galápagos, Santa Cruz, casa L. Roque-Albelo & V. Cruz, 137 m, 27. ii. 2005, MHNG. (68) ♂, Brazil, Mato Grosso, environs de Dourados, iii. 1966, MHNG. (69, 70) Udea galapagensis. (69) ♂ holotype, MHNG. (70) paratype ♀, Galápagos, San Cristóbal, El Junco, east side, 654 m, 25. ii. 2005, MHNG. (71, 72) Udea sideralis. (71) holotype ♂, MHNG. (72) paratype ♀, Santiago, N side, 527 m, 5. iii. 2005, MHNG.

Figs 131 - 133. 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. (131) Synclera jarbusalis: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8985, Brazil. (132) Syngamia florella: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8987, Galápagos, Santa Cruz. (133) Terastia meticulosalis: slide MHNG-ENTO- 9032, Galápagos, Santa Cruz.

Figs 178 - 183. Female genitalia of Neotropical Spilomelinae, not to scale. (178) Syngamia florella: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8988, Galápagos, Santiago. (179) Terastia meticulosalis: slide CNC PYR 364, Galápagos, Santa Cruz. (180) Udea galapagensis paratype: slide BL 1231. (181) Udea sideralis paratype: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8965. (182) Diaphania costata lectotype, slide BL 1809 (ZMUC). (183) Sisyracera contortilinealis holotype: slide BL 1807, BMNH ©, the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.