Coeliades pisistratus (Fabricius)

Cock, Matthew J. W., 2010, Observations on the biology of Afro-tropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) principally from Kenya. Part 1. Introduction and Coeliadinae, Zootaxa 2547, pp. 1-63 : 39-43

Coeliades pisistratus (Fabricius) ( Figures 31–35 )

This species is found in Africa from Sierra Leone to Kenya to Natal. Although Larsen (1991) suggests this species vies with C. f. forestan as the commonest and most widespread of the genus in Kenya, I would regard it as considerably less common than either C. forestan or Pyrrhiades a. anchises . I have only seen it from Nairobi (gardens), and parts of the area between Nairobi and the coast (dry savannah and forest). van Someren (1939) reports it common at the north end of the Chyulu Hills, and Sevastopulo (1974) states that it is uncommon around Makadara Forest (Shimba Hills).

Adult behaviour

The adults come readily to flowers such as lantana and Acanthaceae , as do the rest of the genus. Although I have not seen adults come to drink at water or urine, I would expect them to do so.

Food plants

I have reared this species only once: on Caucanthus auriculatus at Kibwezi Forest, where caterpillars occurred together with those of P. a. anchises on the same plants. Sevastopulo (unpublished) reared this species at Mombasa, but did not identify the food plant; his photographs of the caterpillar with the leaf in the background are suggestive of Acridocarpus zanzibaricus , and in his list of the butterflies of the Shimba Hills ( Sevastopulo 1974) he lists Acridocarpus sp. as a food plant. The published records are given in Table 4 .

In spite of the record from Indigofera spp. ( Table 4 ), I have not found this species to attack Indigofera spp. in Kenya, although C. f. forestan does so commonly. These records may well all be copied from Trimen’s (1889) original observation in South Africa. I speculate that Larsen's (1991) observation of numerous caterpillars on this host in the Ngong Forest, Nairobi, is more likely to refer to C. f. forestan .

Leaf shelters

The stage 1 shelter is as shown in Figure 31 (left), a roughly triangular lid cut from the edge of the lamina, with two major cuts and folded over at a vein—a type 5 two–cut shelter (Type 10 of Greeney & Jones (2003)).

Pringle et al. (1994) suggest (after Paré) that the type 6 four–cut shelters made with two oval lids are characteristic of stage 1 shelters of C. f. forestan while C. pisistratus only makes a type 5 two–cut shelter at this stage. I have not found this type 5 shelter with a narrow bridge for other Coeliadinae , but I have made relatively few collections of the earliest shelters. The second stage shelter resembles the four–cut shelter described for P. a. anchises and C. f. forestan above (e.g. Figures 22–25 ). One mature caterpillar was collected in a simple type 4 one–cut shelter.

Caterpillar

Based on head capsule measurements, there seem to be six caterpillar instars in this species. The following descriptions are based primarily on one individual (89/109C) reared though from the third instar collected at Kibwezi Forest, 31 Dec 1989.

Instar 1. The first instar caterpillar (89/109A) is not striped like the latter instars, but pale green with a light brown head, 0.6 x 0.6mm wide x high (n=1) ( Figure 31 , right). When newly collected the caterpillar measured 3.5mm, and moulted four days later. The caterpillar in this instar feeds on the leaf upper surface adjacent to the shelter, and skeletonises the upper layer. Frass tends not to be flicked away as it is in latter instars and in most Hesperiidae .

Instar 2. When newly moulted, individual 89/109A measured 5mm. Head brown-yellow, 0.9 x 0.9mm wide x high (n=2), an upper row and lower row of five diffuse dark spots. T1 with dorsal and dorsolateral black dots; black spiracle. Body light green with diffuse dorsal and dorsolateral stripes. As the caterpillar grew it started to develop yellow and white bands, but I did not record details.

Instar 3. Individual 89/109A measured 9mm when newly moulted to the third instar, which lasted 11 days. Head 1.4 x 1.3mm wide x high (mean 1.4 x 1.4mm, n=2). No detailed description, but similar to instar 4, with well formed sharply defined black spots on head.

Instar 4. Caterpillar 89/109C was collected on 31 Dec ( Figure 32 ) in the fourth instar and moulted on 3 Jan. It measured 14mm when collected and the following description was prepared. Head about 1.6 x 1.5mm wide x high (mean 1.7 x 1.7mm, n=2); yellow brown with upper row of four and lower row of five heavy black spots. T1–T2 anterior half black and posterior half white. T3 similar, but posterior 1/3 white, and divided by a black line running from dorsum to laterally. A1–A6 anterior half white and posterior half white, divided by two very narrow black lines extending to laterally, making three white bands. A7 similar but anterior two bands are yellow instead of white. A8 anterior 2/3 black, posterior 1/3 yellow. A9 black with yellow band from centre of segment dorsally to anterior margin laterally. A10 black with white band centrally. Spiracles black with paler margin; inconspicuous. Legs black; prolegs dark reddish.

Instar 5. This instar lasted from 3 Jan to 12 Jan for individual 89/109C. On 4 Jan it measured 16mm and on 9 Jan 22mm ( Figure 33 ). The following description was prepared on 4 Jan. Head 2.7 x 2.9mm wide x high (mean 2.7 x 2.7mm, n=3); light orange brown; upper row of four black spots; the central two angled dorsally and laterally, oval; the outer two extend laterally and then ventrally; lower row of five spots; the central spot almost round; middle spots rounded with pointed projection dorsally and inwards; outer spots around stemmata. T1–T2 black with narrow white band on posterior margin, extending ventrally but less distinct. T3 similar but white band divided into two by black band running from dorsum to dorsolateral. A1–A6 black with three narrow white bands on posterior margin, those on A1–A2 extending ventrally but less distinct; A2, A4 and A6 have a tiny white dot dorsolaterally in black band. A7 black with narrow white band on posterior margin; anterior to this white band, two narrow orange bands separated by a black line; the orange lines are interrupted laterally and fuse as a white band ventrolaterally. A8 black, with narrow white band on posterior margin, and a wider orange band anterior to this. A9 black with orange and white double line from laterally on anterior margin to posteriorly on dorsum. A10 black with white transverse bar, angled anteriorly at dorsum and wider laterally. Legs black; prolegs brown-red. Spiracles not obvious.

Instar 6. Individual 89/109C moulted to the sixth instar on 12 Jan, it was a prepupa on 30 Jan and pupa on 31 Jan, i.e. the instar took 18 days. On 15 Jan, i.e. three days into the instar, it measured 25mm ( Figure 34 ), and the following description was prepared. Head 4.1 x 3.8mm wide x high (mean 4.2 x 3.9mm, n=2); light orange brown with black spots as follows: upper row of four spots; the inner pair oval, nearly meeting ventrally and diverging dorsally; the outer pair with inner margin parallel to inner pair, and extending in a narrowing wedge laterally and then ventrally; lower row of five spots; the central spot on clypeus, oval, longer in dorsoventral axis; middle spots pear shaped, with narrow end extending dorsally and towards centre; outer spots small, oval, around the stemmata. T1–T2 black with narrow white band on posterior margin. T3 similar, but white band contains a transverse black line from dorsum to dorsolateral; the anterior portion of white band is tinted yellow dorsally; the anterior black part contains a small white dorsolateral spot. A1 similar but no dorsolateral white spot in black anterior portion; white band divided by two black lines into three white bands extending from dorsum to laterally; the anterior two white bands are tinted yellow dorsally. A2–A5 similar, but black anterior portion contains dorsolateral and lateral white spots; the white bands on A4–A6 are broader and the anterior two are tinted yellow as A1. A6 similar but anterior two white bands are orange. A7 similar but the white spots in the anterior black portion are reduced to dots; the band on the margin is orange, with the posterior margin narrowly white, and not divided by black lines. A8 Black, with a transverse orange band from laterally on anterior margin to dorsally on posterior margin; lateral end of orange band is joined to a very short white longitudinal marking. A9 black, with a white transverse band angled to anterior margin at dorsum. True legs black; prolegs and ventrum dark maroon.

Pupa

The pupa of 89/109C was described 11 days after formation, and three days before eclosion. The shape is similar to that of C. forestan . Under a coating of white waxy powder, the abdomen is light green, and the thorax and head are light brown; the white waxy covering is pitted on the abdomen. Black spots are present: on the anterior margin of the T1 spiracle, which projects 0.4mm; dorsal margin of the eye; ventrolateral margin of eye; fore wing costa near base; an arc on the disc of the fore wing; dot on anterior margin of plate between the eyes; near the base of the proboscis; on T1 leg at 1/2; on T2 leg at about 1/2, with four dots distally; a double arc anterior to the cremaster.

Natural enemies

A 6.5 mm third instar caterpillar about to moult to instar 4 was collected on Caucanthus auriculatus at Kibwezi Forest on 31.xii.1989; two ectoparasitoid larvae of a braconid (assumed to be the same as that noted on C. f. forestan above) were already evident ( Figure 35 ). One spun its cocoon on 2 Jan1990, and an adult emerged on 10 Jan.

Discussion

S.E. Woodhall (in Henning et al. 1997) describes and illustrates the life history from South Africa and reports only five instars. Henning et al. (1997) include a photograph of the final (fifth) instar caterpillar which differs from that shown in Figure 34 in that the head is paler and less strongly marked; the black lines in the posterior half of each segment are narrower; the white dorsolateral markings in the anterior half of each segment are much more elongate; the lateral white markings are joined anteriorly to the bands of the segment in front; and the orange dorsal markings on segments A7–9 are similar in colour to the yellow markings of the other segments. It would be necessary to examine the range of variation in different areas to come to any conclusion about these basically qualitative differences. The pupa described and illustrated in Henning et al. (1997) has the apex of the frontal spike and the T1 spiracles black, but lacks the black spots described above on the head, appendages and abdomen.

Figures

FIGURE 22. Leaf shelters of Coeliades f. forestan on Combretum sp. A, Kibwezi Forest, collected 21 Jan 1990 (90/10); left, heavily damaged shoot with various shelters, including one opened to show a large caterpillar; centre, stage 1 four–cut shelter with 4mm caterpillar (90/10E); right, stage 2 two–cut shelter, which contained a 19mm third instar caterpillar ready to moult (90/10D).

FIGURE 23. Leaf shelters of Coeliades f. forestan and characteristic feeding damage on Terminalia catappa, Diani Beach, 7 Jul 1991 (91/49); left, stage 3 type 5 two–cut shelter on mid-rib; stage 4 type 1 no–cut shelter by folding under leaf margin.

FIGURE 24. Leaf shelters of Coeliades f. forestan on Indigofera tinctoria, Diani Beach, 28 Mar 1989 (89/21); left, stage 1 four–cut shelter; centre, stage 2 multi–leaf shelter; right, stage 3 multi–leaf shelter.

FIGURE 25 Leaf shelters of Coeliades f. forestan; left, stage 1 shelter on Lonchocarpus bussei, Arabuko Sokoke Forest, 23 Sep 1989 (89/85), right, stage 2 shelter showing caterpillar visible within on unidentified food plant, Forêt du Yapo, Côte d’Ivoire, 4 Dec 1988.

FIGURE 31. Instar 1 of Coeliades pisistratus on Caucanthus auriculatus, Kibwezi Forest, 31 Dec 1989; left, stage 1 type 5 two–cut shelter; right, instar 1 caterpillar from same shelter, 3.5mm (89/109A).

FIGURE 32. Instar 4 caterpillar of Coeliades pisistratus collected on Caucanthus auriculatus, Kibwezi Forest, 31 Dec 1989; 14mm (89/109C).

FIGURE 33. Instar 5 caterpillar of Coeliades pisistratus collected on Caucanthus auriculatus, Kibwezi Forest, 31 Dec 1989; moulted to fifth instar 3 Jan 1990, photographed 9 Jan, 22mm (89/109C).

FIGURE 34. Instar 6 caterpillar of Coeliades pisistratus collected on Caucanthus auriculatus, Kibwezi Forest, 31 Dec 1989; moulted to sixth instar 12 Jan 1990, photographed 15 Jan, 25mm (89/109C).

FIGURE 35. Instar 3 pre-moult caterpillar of Coeliades pisistratus collected on Caucanthus auriculatus, Kibwezi Forest, 31 Dec 1989; parasitized by unidentified braconid, 6.5mm (89/109F).

Tables

TABLE 4. Recorded food plants of Coeliades pisistratus. Localities preceded by a question mark reflect a food plant record from a national or regional work, which may or may not be based on observations in that country or region.

Family Food plant	Locality
Apocynaceae
Marsdenia or Dregea sp.	?Kenya	Sevastopulo 1974, 1975; Henning et al. 1997
Combretaceae
Combretum sp.	Côte d’Ivoire	Vuattoux 1999
	?Southern Africa	Henning et al. 1997
Fabaceae
Indigofera sp.	?Kenya	Sevastopulo 1974, 1975
	?Malawi	Gifford 1965
	South Africa	Trimen 1889; Pinhey 1965, Dickson & Kroon 1978, Pringle et al. 1994; Henning et al. 1997
Malpighiaceae
Acridocarpus sp.	?Southern Africa	Pinhey 1965; Henning et al. 1997
	?Malawi	Gifford 1965
	?Kenya	Sevastopulo 1974, 1975
Acridocarpus longifolius	East Africa	van Someren 1974
Acridocarpus pruriens	South Africa	Murray 1932, 1959, Dickson & Kroon 1978
Acridocarpus zanzibaricus	East Africa	van Someren 1974
Caucanthus auriculatus	Kenya (Kibwezi)	This work
Sphedamnocarpus pruriens	Southern Africa	Pringle et al. 1994; Henning et al. 1997
Triaspis macropteron	Southern Africa	Pringle et al. 1994 (quoting Paré); Henning et al. 1997
Triaspis odorata	Côte d’Ivoire	Vuattoux 1999