Ascotis reciprocaria ( Walker, 1860b )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 207

Ascotis reciprocaria ( Walker, 1860b)

COMMON NAME (S): Geometer moth. SYNONYM(S): Trigonomelea nigristigma Warren, 1905c ; Trigonomelea semifusca Warren, 1904 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Cameroon, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Sao Tome & Principe, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: ‘Lusaka’, in Lusaka Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): The following are the host plants of the taxon reported in south Africa: Gymnosporia heterophylla (Eckl. & Zeyh.) Loes. (Celastraceae) , Diospyros lycioides Desf. (Ebenaceae) , Celtis afri cana Burm.f.

(Ulmaceae), Cussonia spicata Thunb. (Araliaceae) , Wisteria sinensis (Sims) Sweet (Fabaceae) , Duranta erecta L. ( Verbenaceae ), Maesa lanceolata Forssk. (Myrsinaceae) , Scutia myrtina (Burm.f.) Kurz

(Rhamnaceae), and an unnamed Citrus sp. (Rutaceae) . In Kenya the reported host plant is Coffea arabica

L. ( Rubiaceae ). Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. ( Malvaceae ) is the host plant in Ghana. Elsewhere in

Africa the following host plants have been named; Coffea sp. (Rubiaceae) , Schinus molle L. and Rhus sp.

(Anacardiaceae), Acacia sp. (Fabaceae) , Acrocarpus fraxinifolius Arn. (Fabaceae) , Chlorophora excelsa

(Moraceae), Cupressus lusitanica Mill., C. arizonica var. nevadensis (Abrams) Little (Cupressaceae) ,

Maesopsis eminii Engl. (Rhamnaceae) , and Podocarpus sp. (Podocarpaceae) . No specific host plant for the taxon has been reported for Zambia.

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Pinhey 1975.