Telchin licus (Drury, 1773), 1825

Gonzalez, Jorge M. & Domagala, Pawel J., 2021, Castniidae of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Wroclaw: new findings from Friedrich Wilhelm Niepelt's collection with comments on Karl Adolf Georg Lauterbach and August Weberbauer, Nota Lepidopterologica 44, pp. 123-132 : 123

Telchin licus (Drury, 1773)

Comments.

This is perhaps the most common species in the family, it is highly variable and often associated with sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L., Poaceae), and is also known as a secondary pest of plantains and bananas ( Musa spp., Musaceae) ( González and Fernández Yépez 1993; González and Stüning 2007; González et al. 2013b; González and Domagała 2019). Due to the confusing taxonomy of the few associated subspecies, we prefer to treat this species as monotypic until a more detailed work clears up its infraspecific structure.

Material examined.

3♂♂, no data, Telchin licus ( Dr. ), det. A Wanat, coll. ?; 1♀, licoides ♀, 5.xi. [no locality]; 1♂, Juanjuy [= Juanjui], Peru, 221, Telchin licus , det. A. Wanat, coll. ?; 1♂, C. lindella [sic], Peru, “illegible”, 19.7.[19]36, coll .?; 1♂, Castnia licur [sic], Colind. Thinp. 17.8.[19]35, coll.?; 1♂, Castnia licuides [sic], N. Brasilien, coll .?; 1♀, C. licus Drury , Brasil, Collection Niepelt, Peru Weberbauer, S.G. [head missing, but antennae attached; one of the antennae broken and glued back], (Figs 1e ; 2a-c ) .

Figures

Figure 1. Butterfly-Moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) from the Insect collection of the Museum of Natural History, University of Wroclaw, Poland. a. Ceretes thais male, [Brazil] Minas Gerais; b. Synpalamides phalaris male, Brazil, [Coll.?] Lauterbach, 1547; c. Imara pallasia female, [Brazil], Santa Catharina, Collection Niepelt; d. Castnia invaria trinitatis female, [French Guiana], 222; e. Telchin licus female, Brazil, Collection Niepelt, Peru Weberbauer, S. G.; f. Synpalamides fabricii Brazil, Collection Niepelt.; g. Telchin evalthe quadrata male, Ecuador, Macas, 1905 - 08; h. Prometheus heliconioides female, [Brazil], Tefe, Amazonas, Tijunin; i. Yagra fonscolombe female, Brazil, Collection Niepelt. Figures are to scale. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 2. Labels attached to specimens in the collection of Giant Butterfly-moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) of the Museum of Natural History, University of Wroclaw, Poland. a-c. labels attached to a specimen of Telchin licus; d-g. labels attached to a specimen of Synpalamides phalaris. Figures are to scale. Scale bar: 10 mm.