Artitropa erinnys radiata 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 : 332

Artitropa erinnys radiata Riley, 1925

Riley (1925) described radiata as a subspecies of A. erinnys restricted to Mt. Sagalla in southern Kenya. It is more widespread in south-east Kenya. VGL Van Someren reared a long series from the Teita Hills (BMNH accessions; 17 specimens, Feb 1955; another 6 in T.H.E. Jackson collection). SCC has reared it in series from Mt. Sagalla, Teita Hills and Mt. Kasigau. A population at the Kenya Coast has been associated with this subspecies in the past by D.G. Sevastopulo, V.G.L. Van Someren and others, but we treat this under A. erinnys ehlersi below, as does Larsen (1991).

Larsen (1991) recognised its similarity to A. erinnys ehlersi , suggesting it is likely to be a synonym, whereas Ackery et al. (1995) suggest that it is ‘almost certainly nothing more than an individual variant of A. e. vansomereni ’. Although it is closer to A. e. ehlersi than A. e. vansomereni , we continue to treat it as a valid subspecies pending a more critical assessment.

Food plants. Under A. e. vansomereni above, we have analysed Van Someren’s (1974) food plant records for A. erinnys ‘and subspecies’ and conclude that the record of D. mannii applies to A. e. ehlersi , and that of D. afromontana is more likely to apply to A. e. vansomereni but might apply to A. e. radiata or both. SCC has reared A. e. radiata from D. fragrans from the Teita Hills, Mt. Sagalla, and Mt. Kasigau.

Life history, Teita Hills, Mt. Sagalla, Kasigau, Kenya. Under A. e. vansomereni above, we analyse the confusion regarding the emerged pupae of A. e. vansomereni and A. e. radiata from Van Someren’s collection (BMNH dry early stages). It is not clear that any of the material can be reliably associated with A. e. radiata .

There is a long series in ABRI from Teita Hills, Mt. Sagalla and Kasigau. The cast skins of the final instar show that there are two pairs of spots on the front (face) of the epicranium, one level with the top of the adfrontals but separated from the adfrontal suture, and the other half way down the adfrontals, most but not all touching the adfrontal suture; there is a lateral spot in most specimens; between the four spots on the face there is a dash near the apex of each adfrontal, and one slightly lower at the apex of the frons. The markings are closest to Artitropa erinnys ehlersi (Figure 28.1–2), but the streak on the frons is usually stronger in ssp. radiata. The pupae mostly have little in the way of markings, beyond an arc to the rear of the thorax, but a few are more heavily marked.