Artitropa milleri milleri Riley, 1925

Cock, Matthew J. W., Congdon, T. Colin E. & Collins, Steve C., 2015, Observations on the Biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Part 8. Hesperiinae incertae sedis: Dracaena Feeders, Zootaxa 3985 (3), pp. 301-348 : 313-315

Artitropa milleri milleri Riley, 1925

As noted above, Riley (1925) described A. milleri from Tanzania, west Uganda and north-western Zambia, but we provisionally restrict this subspecies to material matching the holotype from Tukuyu, Tanzania. In Tanzania it is found in the Uluguru Mountains, Udzungwa Mountains, Rubeho Mountains (near Mpwapwa) and the Southern Highlands ( Kielland 1990, TCEC unpublished), and the range extends to the Misuku Hills, northern Malawi. The markings of the face of final instar caterpillars of A. milleri resemble those of the penultimate instar of A. reducta as documented by Sevastopulo (unpublished) from the Shimba Hills, described below.

Food plants. Van Someren (1974) gives the food plant of A. milleri ‘and subspecies’ as D. mannii (as D. usambarensis ), but this is more likely to apply to A. m. coryndon (below) than A. m. milleri . Although it is quite likely to be a suitable food plant, we are not aware of any confirmed records of D. mannii as the food plant of A. m. milleri , since those in Kielland (1990) and Heath et al. (2002) are likely to be repeating Van Someren’s record. Kielland (1990) also gives D. laxissima as the food plant, based on TCEC’s observations (Kigogo, Mufindi, Tanzania), and this is repeated in Heath et al. (2002). TCEC has also collected caterpillars of A. m. milleri from D. steudneri at various locations in Tanzania, including the Usambara Mountains, Nguru Mountains, Uluguru Mountains, Rubeho Mountains (Mafwemiru Forest, Mt. Chugu), Mufindi and Njombe (south central Tanzania). TCEC grew a D. steudneri in his garden at Mufindi and caterpillars of A. m. milleri defoliated it, so that in the end he had to remove the early stages. It is common on both D. laxissima and D. steudneri , depending on which is available.

Life history. The early stages ( Figures 10 –11.1–2) show no clear-cut differences from those documented in more detail for A. m. coryndon below. Ova can be laid all over the leaves, both surfaces, and the neonate caterpillar starts eating at the edge of the leaf it happens to be on, folding the edge under, and emerging to feed at night. The butterfly itself is crepuscular, but will fly throughout the day in dull weather. It is on the wing throughout the year.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Ova and caterpillar of Artitropa milleri milleri [TCEC]. 1 – 2, ovum; on Dracaena laxissima, Kigogo, Mufindi, Tanzania, 11 Feb 1998: 1, dorsal view; 2, lateral view. 3, ovum, dorsal view with ribs evident; on D. laxissima, Mufindi, Tanzania, undated. 4 – 7, final instar caterpillar: 4 – 5, anterior segments, anterodorsolateral view, on D. steudneri, Mufindi, Tanzania, 4 Jun 2003; 6, anterior segments, anterodorsal view, collected on D. steudneri, Uluguru Mountains, eastern Tanzania, 23 Jan 2004; 7, head, anterior view in leaf shelter on D. laxissima, Misuku Hills, northern Malawi, 22 May 2004.