Eudocima afrikana Borth & Kons, 2021

Borth, Robert J. & Kons, Hugo L., 2022, Mitochondrial genetics of Ophiderini, with a new species from the Eudocima phalonia species group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae), Zootaxa 5148 (1), pp. 1-151 : 21-22

Eudocima afrikana Borth & Kons, 2021

( Figs 1 : A–C, 15: G–J, 21: I, 27: E–L, 32: K, 33: A–B, I–J, 34: A–C, 35: A–C, 36: A–C, 37: A, 38: A–D, 39: A–D, 41: A–D, 43: A–D, 44: A–D, 45: D–E, 46: A–D, 47: A–D, 48: A–C, 49: A, 50: A–C, 51: A, 52: A–C, 53: A, 54: A–C, 55: A, 56: A–D, G, 58: A, E, 59: A–B, 60, 61: A–B, 62: A–B, 63: A–B, 64: A–B, 65: A–B, 66: A–B, 67: B, D–E, 68: A, C, E, 69: A–D, 70, 71: A, 72:A, H, 87:A, 92:H)

The diagnosis is covered in the description (above).

Life History and Bionomics. Hargreaves (1936) studied the species now named E. afrikana over an eleven-year period in an orchard in Njala, Sierra Leone. He recorded a life cycle there of up to 37 days beginning with pale green spherical eggs which darkened before hatching in about 3 days. The larvae fed only on Menispermaceae and went through 5 instars. Most larvae were found during October and November on Tiliacora sp. nr. dinklagei Engl. , but were also found at various times on Dioscoreophyllum volkensii Engl. , Stephania dinklagei (Engl.) , Albertisia ferruginea (Diels) and Triclisia patens Oliv. During May and June larvae were generally pale yellow-green and reached 7 cm. At other times of the year larvae typically reached 6 cm. During July and August larvae were all pale yellow to green, and September through November they were primarily brown to black. Larvae have two similar large dark ocelli on the second and third abdominal segments, each with a pale lilac or blue center and a peripheral margin white to pale yellow above and reddish-orange to yellow below. The pupal stage can last up to two weeks in a loose silk cocoon ( Hargreaves 1936).

As in other Eudocima , E. afrikana is able to pierce hard skinned fruits as well as thick-skinned, soft-skinned or ripening fruits. Zaspel (2008) provided scanning electron microscope images for exemplar Eudocima species illustrating serrated ridges, rasping spines, erectile barbs and socketed tearing hooks, and credited the ventrally serrated cuticular ridge and robust proboscis for the ability to pierce hard skinned fruit. We illustrate these features on the proboscis of E. afrikana in Figs 71 : A, 72: A and H.

Populations of E. afrikana in Sierra Leone (reported as Othreis fullonica ) appeared to be correlated to rainfall with adult activity peaking when fruit availability was highest during the drier months of April and May with an outbreak occurring in 1934 ( Hargreaves 1936). Hargreaves noted that in Sierra Leone adults focus on cashews and mangoes in February through April until citrus becomes attractive 4–5 weeks before maturity. Then, in order of preference, sweet lime, mandarin, orange, and grapefruit were attacked with breadfruit and jackfruit also affected. Mangoes and tangerines were pierced in Nigeria (Golding 1945).

Unlike most Lepidoptera pests, with Eudocima it is the adult rather than the larva that causes economic damage. Calpinae larvae are not agricultural pests as they feed primarily on Menispermaceae (Zaspel 2008) but the adult moths are piercers of fruits ( Bänziger 1982). Fay (2002) noted that E. phalonia inserts its proboscis in a direct straight line penetrating 15 mm into the fruit and may feed at that site for over 30 minutes. Fruit-rotting molds such as Odium species ( Muller 1939), Fusarium species ( Bänziger 1982) and bacteria ( Hargreaves 1936) invade the penetration site leading to fermentation, dark lesions, and premature fruit fall. The piercing hole causes susceptibility to secondary fruit-sucking species ( Bänziger 1982). Leaf mimics such as E. afrikana and E. phalonia are difficult to see during the daytime but can often be detected feeding on fruit at the periphery of a crop at night with their eyes glowing in the flashlight beam.

Eudocima afrikana is difficult to control with insecticide because the larvae don’t feed on the adult host but are widely dispersed in surrounding disturbed areas ( Hargreaves 1936). Furthermore, adults spend only a short time on fruits and spraying pesticides on fruit at harvest time is dangerous for human consumption. Bats are the main predators ( Hargreaves 1936) prompting experimentation with solar powered acoustic frequencies to repel the moths ( Chikkalaki et al. 2018).

Distribution and dispersal: Eudocima afrikana is distributed throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa including Madagascar.Adults are strong fliers ( Hargreaves 1936) and may not be restricted to one area, but we are unaware of evidence that they migrate outside their permanent range like congeners E. phalonia and E. apta .

We have examined specimens or photos from Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Malta, Réunion, South Africa, Tanzania, Toga, Uganda and South Africa. Waterhouse & Norris (1987) also recorded E. afrikana (reported as E. phalonia ) in Angola, Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. Additional distribution records (reported as E. phalonia ) are Eritrea ( Berio 1941), Gabon and Guinea ( Zilli & Hogenes 2002), Malawi and Rwanda ( Brou & Zilli 2016), Comoros ( Guillermet 2005), Seychelles ( Pagenstecher 1907), Somalia (Poulton 1916) Principe and São Tomé ( Aurivillius 1910) (see De Prins & De Prins 2022 http://www.afromoths. net/species/show/31586). Eudocima afrikana was not recorded in a study of fruit-sucking and fruit-piercing moths in citrus orchards in South Africa ( Goddard 2019).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Eudocima afrikana wing pattern terminology.

FIGURE 71. Calpinae proboscides.