Observations on the biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Part 7. Hesperiinae incertae sedis: grass and bamboo feeders
Author
Cock, Matthew J. W.
Author
Congdon, T. Colin E.
text
Zootaxa
2014
3872
4
301
354
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3872.4.1
3278c375-6c89-42a2-b7ac-24b9bb91730e
1175-5326
251860
8FECCFC1-7CA9-4A90-B881-4BD40157AD99
Tsitana
Evans, 1937
There are five species of this exclusively southern African genus, four from
South Africa
discussed below, and
Tsitana wallacei
Neave
from
Zambia
and the adjoining
DR Congo
and
Tanzania
(
Evans 1937
,
Ackery
et al
. 1995
). The four South African species are grass feeders, but only
T. uitenhaga
Evans
has been documented.
Tsitana tsita
(Trimen)
and
T. uitenhaga
are reported to feed on
Stipa dregeana
(
Murray 1959
,
Dickson & Kroon 1978
,
Pringle
et al
. 1994
,
Henning
et al
. 1997
).
Stipa dregeana
has been treated as a synonym of
S. keniensis
, but this does not seem to be generally accepted as yet. Although
Evans (1937)
and
Ackery
et al
. (1995)
treat
uitenhaga
as a subspecies of
T. tsita
, South African workers treat the two as separate species (
Dickson & Kroon 1978
,
Pringle
et al
. 1994
,
Henning
et al
. 1997
,
Woodhall 2005
). Clark (in
Dickson & Kroon 1978
) illustrates the complete life history of
T. uitenhaga
. The ovum is dome-shaped, relatively tall, and rather smooth. The caterpillars are green, long and cylindrical, and there are six instars; the head is marked with brown and white in the final instar, black and white in the earlier instars, and plain black in the first instar. The pupa is white, cylindrical, downturned at the cremaster, with a dark head bearing a pair of short, upward-directed projections.
Tsitana tulbagha
Evans
was recorded from
Pseudopentameris macrantha
(as
Pentameris macrantha
) by
Murray (1959)
. However, subsequent authors refer to the food plant as a coarse tussock grass,
Danthonia
spp. (
Dickson & Kroon 1978
) or
Merxmuellera
spp. (
Pringle
et al
. 1994
,
Henning
et al
. 1997
), the latter genus having been separated from the former, and correctly applied to the African species.
Tsitana dicksoni
Evans
is recorded from
Pseudopentameris macrantha
(as
Pentameris macrantha
) by
Murray (1959)
, which is subsequently referred to as probably
P. macrantha
(
Dickson & Kroon 1978
,
Pringle
et al
. 1994
,
Henning
et al
. 1997
).