Observations on the biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Part 9. Hesperiinae incertae sedis: Zingiberales feeders, genera of unknown biology and an overview of the Hesperiinae incertae sedis
Cock, Matthew J. W.
Congdon, T. Colin E.
Collins, Steve C.
Zootaxa
2016
4066
3
201
247
92QGM
Aurivillius, 1925
Aurivillius
1925
[151,517,686,712]
Insecta
Hesperiidae
Xanthodisca
Animalia
Lepidoptera
18
219
Arthropoda
genus
The late T.B. Larsen (pers. comm. 2015) re-examined the members of the genus, and concluded that X. arielprobably belongs to one of the Madagascan endemic genera ( Perrotiaor Miraja), whereas astrapeis not related to any other genus, so he planned to describe new genus to hold it. The food plants of arielare unknown but Larsen suggests they will be found to be bamboos, whereas X. vibiusand X. regafeed on Aframomumspp. ( Zingiberaceae) and X. astrapefeeds on Marantaceae, and is treated below in the section on Marantaceaefeeders. Contrary to what Aurivillius (1925)and Evans (1937)thought, Xanthodiscais not closely related to Pardaleodes, a grass-feeding genus treated in Cock & Congdon (2014), rather it shows clear affinities with the other Zingiberaceae-feeders treated here, especially Semalea(above).