Utetheisa Hübner [1819]

Choi, Sei-Woong, Heo, Un-Hong & Kim, Sung-Soo, 2021, Four species of Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera), new to Korea, Zootaxa 4999 (6), pp. 582-590 : 586

Genus Utetheisa Hübner [1819]

Type species Phalaena ornatrix Linnaeus 1758

1 * Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson, 1907

( Figs. 1C , 2H )

Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson, 1907 , Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7) 19: 239. Type locality: Chagos Is., Peros Banhos.

Utetheisa idea Clarke, 1940 . Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 42: 42. Type locality: New Foundland.

Utetheisa dorsifumata Prout, 1920 , Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5: 286. Type locality: North New Guinea.

Utetheisa pulchelloides vaga Jordan, 1939 , Novitates Zoologicae 41: 284. Type locality: Java.

Material examined. 1 female, Korea: JN: Haenam , Hwangsan-myon, Myungdang-bong, 5 July 2018, Sei-Woong Choi. NIBR specimen no. VLYVIN0000009698 ( NIBR).

Diagnosis. Utetheisa pulchelloides can be recognized by its whitish forewing mixed with reddish and black dots, and a whitish hindwing with a blackish line-shaped discal dot and blackish bands along the termen. This species is externally very similar to U. lotrix (Cramer, 1779) but can be distinguished by the small red dots on the subtermen of the costa, basal dorsum and tornus of the forewing. The specific feature of the female genitalia of U. pulchelloides are as follows: medially invaginated V-shaped ostium bursae; tubular, medially bent and strongly sclerotized ductus bursae; corpus bursae with two worm-like signa; and large sac-shaped appendix bursae with numerous spiculi on the V-shaped linear and irregular-shaped patch.

Description. Wingspan 25 mm. Antennae filiform; frons white, centrally with large blackish dot; labial palpi whitish, moderate in length, about 1.5 times of eye diameter, upturned, 3 rd segment short, blackish. Body and legs whitish with brownish tibial joints. Forewing white in ground color; costa reddish; basal part with black dots; antemedial line with black dots; centrally with dark brown dots from the costa to median; postmedial line largely undulating pattern with dark brown dots; subterminal line arcuate with dark brown dots; terminal line a row of dark brown dots followed by reddish patches. Hindwing whitish in ground color; costa with a blackish dot; discal dot black, short, line-shaped; tornus blackish; termen with black marking. Abdomen whitish.

Female genitalia. Papillae anales rounded, not projected; posterior apophyses approximately double the length of the anterior apophyses; ostium bursae ventrally V-shaped, sclerotized; ductus bursae tubular, medially bent, strongly sclerotized; corpus bursae long, sac-shaped, posteriorly with a large sac-shaped appendix bursae with numerous spiculi arranged into a V-shaped linear and a large, irregular-shaped patch; corpus bursae with two wormlike signa with dentate surfaces.

Distribution. Islands of the Indian Ocean, Indo-Australian and Pacific tropics, Australia, migrant to Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Norfolk I. and New Zealand ( Holloway 1988) and Korea.

Remarks. Seven subspecies of Utetheisa pulchelloides have been recorded.Among them, the Korean specimen can be identical with U. pulchelloides vaga based on its geographic distribution. The host-plants of Utetheisa pulchelloides are species of Messerschmidia , Bothriospermum , Heliotropium , Echium , and Myosotis (Boraginaceae) ( Holloway 1988).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Adults of four species of Noctuoidea in Korea. A, Chytonix brunneofascia sp. nov., Holotype; B, Gynaephora atrata sp. nov. Holotype; C. Utetheisa pulchelloides; D. Pilipectus prunifera. Scale bar = 5mm.

FIGURE 2. Male and female genitalia of four species in Korea. A, B, Chytonix brunneofascia sp. nov.; C, D, Gynaephora atrata sp. nov.; E, F, G. Pilipectus prunifera; H, Utetheisa pulchelloides. Scale bar = 1mm.