Setomorpha rutella Zeller, 1852

Karisch, Timm, 2022, First records of two non-indigenous tineid species from St Helena Island (Tineioidia: Tineidae), Metamorphosis 33 (1), pp. 68-71 : 70-71

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.4314/met.v33i1.8
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14121508
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0382878B-3B71-FFAA-A2EC-67F4FEF8FEA1
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Setomorpha rutella Zeller, 1852
status

Treatment

Setomorpha rutella Zeller, 1852 View in CoL

Material studied (Figs 3 & 8)

St Helena: Jamestown, Cole’s Courtyard, on wall ( Fig. 8 View Figure 8 ), 1 ♂ 10.iii.2017; id., 2 ♂♂ (1 ♂ gen. slide 3614, Karisch) 12.iii.2017; id., 1 ♀ 15.iii.2017, id., 1 ♂ 02.iv.2018, T . Karisch ( MNVD, SDEI).

Tenerife: Sta. Cruz, 1 ♂ (gen. slide B. M. Microlep. 8057) 25.i.1907 ( NHMUK); Orotava, 1 ♀ S. D. Compton ( NHMUK) .

Habitat

In and around Cole‘s Courtyard in the upper centre of Jamestown (between Side Path and “the Run”) several Determination

Comparison with the material in the Collection of the NHMUK and with existing illustrations of the male genitalia (e. g. Gates Clarke, 1969) revealed that the specimens are Setomorpha rutella Zeller, 1852 .

Distribution

This species was described from the Limpopo and Orange rivers in South Africa and it is widespread in tropical Africa ( De Prins & De Prins 2022: Sierra Leone, Central Africa, Democratic Republic Congo, South Africa and the Islands of Silhouette, Mahé, La Réunion and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean). It is known under the name “Tobacco Moth” from various other regions in the Tropics (e. g. Indonesia – Snellen 1884; Australia: Queensland and New South Wales; Französisch Polynesien und Neukaledonien – MNHN&OFB 2022; United States and Cuba – Moth Photographers Group 2022) and has been even introduced to the Canary Isles and the UK ( Lepiforum 2022).

Trophic resources

The larvae of S. rutella are detritus feeders and usually not of economic importance. However, Lim (1975) found out experimentally, that S. rutella could be an intermediate host of a gastrointestinal parasitic Nematode of fowl.

The discovery of S. rutella on St. Helena is not surprising and is another example in a series of former introductions of Tineidae .