Diaphone eumela (Cramer, 1781)

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 406-407

Diaphone eumela (Cramer, 1781)

COMMON NAME (S): Cherry Spot or Lily Borer.

SYNONYM(S): Bombyx elegans Fabricius, 1787 ; Noctua sylviana Stoll, 1790 ; Chelonia evidens Guérin-Méneville, 1832 ; Diaphone libertina Bartel, 1903a ; Diaphone barnsi Prout, 1921a .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia , Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: ‘Lusaka’, in Lusaka Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Three Asparagaceae species namely, Scilla lanceaefolia (L.f.) Jessop, Ornithogalum dubium Houtt. and Albuca schoenlandii Baker , are host plants of the taxon in South Africa ( Taylor 1949) , while another

Asparagaceae species namely, Albuca virens (Lindl.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt , is a host plant of the taxon in an unnamed country elsewhere in Africa (Hampson 1905) . The African Moths (2019) website lists the following as larval foodplants of the taxon: five Hyacinthaceae species, Albuca virens (Lindl.)

J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, Ornithogalum dubium Houtt. , Ornithoglossum sp. , Ledebouria revoluta (L.f.)

Jessop and Dipcadi viride (L.) Moench; one Asparagaceae species, Albuca schoenlandii Baker ; one

Liliaceae species, Allium cepa L. [commonly known as onion]; one yet to be identified Zingiberaceae species, Amomum sp. ; two yet to be identified Amaryllidaceae species, Crinum sp. and Hippeastrum sp. ,

and one Musaceae species, Musa paradisiaca subsp. sapientum (L.) Kuntze ex K.Schum.

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Hampson 1910c; Taylor 1949.