Sylepta derogata (Fabricius)

Swezey, O. H., 1946, Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Arctiidae, Agrotidae, and Pyralidae of Guam, Insects of Guam II, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 189, pp. 163-185 : 181

27. Sylepta derogata (Fabricius) .

Phalaena derogata Fabricius, Ent. Syst., 641, 1775.

Sylepta niultilinealis Guenee, Hampson, Fauna Brit. India, Moths 4: 334, 1896.

Sylepta derogata, Tams, Ins. Samoa 3 (4): 279, 1935.

Piti , April 30; Yigo , Oct. 21, Nov. 8, all reared by Swezey. One specimen in Bishop Museum, Fullaway , 1911. The work of the larvae was seen in many places. An ichneumonid ( Echthromorpha conopleura Krieger ) issued from some of the pupae.

This widely distributed moth occurs from west Africa through south Asia to Japan, and the Malayan and Australian regions. It is in Samoa and no doubt other Pacific island groups. In some countries its larvae feed on cotton, but in Guam it is a leafroller on pago ( Hibiscus tiliaceus ). We found it often abundant, many of the leaves being partially rolled up for hiding places. The pupa was formed in the same place.