Coeliades sp.

Cock, Matthew J. W., 2010, Observations on the biology of Afro-tropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) principally from Kenya. Part 1. Introduction and Coeliadinae, Zootaxa 2547, pp. 1-63 : 55

Coeliades sp. probably fervida (Butler) ( Figure 49 )

T.C.E. Congdon, of ABRI provided pictures of a Madagascan Coeliades sp. caterpillar which he collected but was unable to rear ( Figure 49 ). They were found on the northeastern coast of Madagascar, near Maroantsetra, and at the northern end of the island near the Montaines d'Ambre. The food plant was not identified, but the leaf shown in Figure 49 , is reminiscent of the leaf of Acridocarpus longifolius . The caterpillars were thought likely to be C. fervida since adults were seen in the same area.

Chiba (2009) states that C. fervida is the Madagascan equivalent of C. chalybe . Comparing Figure 49 with the caterpillars of C. chalybe ( Figures 15–16 ), the markings of the head, arrangement of spots on the body, and anal marking are all similar, making it clear that the two caterpillars are closely related, and in view of Chiba’s assertion, the provisional identification is most probably correct.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Penultimate instar caterpillar of Coeliades c. chalybe on Acridocarpus longifolius, Adiopodoumé, Côte d’Ivoire; left, caterpillar 6 Dec 1988 (88/211); right, detail of head 14 Jun 1989 (89/204).

FIGURE 16. Final instar caterpillar of Coeliades c. chalybe on Acridocarpus longifolius, Adiopodoumé, Côte d’Ivoire; left, caterpillar; right, detail of head; 6 Dec 1988 (88/211).

FIGURE 49. Caterpillars of Coeliades sp. probably fervida on unknown food plant, Madagascar (photographs T.C.E. Congdon, ABRI).