Revision of the genus Pollanisus Walker, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae: Procridinae)
Author
Mollet, Bernard
0000-0002-1913-4485
molletb@wanadoo.fr
Author
Tarmann, Gerhard M.
0000-0002-1913-4485
molletb@wanadoo.fr
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-05-09
5281
1
1
72
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5281.1.1
journal article
54694
10.11646/zootaxa.5281.1.1
018aa9c3-6cd4-4fb5-a5c1-6825acc73a26
1175-5326
7912043
6ABDFD26-7900-41EA-91AD-8CA3B8552F40
Pollanisus amethystina
Published data (
Mollet 2019
).
Material examined (
Table 15
), all from
Western Australia
.
1 ♁ (781) (
Figs 210, 211
), 7 ♁,
S.
Jurien Bay
,
Sandy Cape Campground
,
30°11.211′S
,
115°00.130′E
,
24.II.2009
, e. l.
on
Hibbertia subvaginata
,
S. & B. Mollet
leg.
(
BMC
);
2 ♁,
Moore River
N. P.
,
83 m
,
31°01′37.38″S
,
115°37′14.51″E
,
04.XI.2011
, day,
S. & B. Mollet
leg.
(
BMC
)
.
Discussion and differential diagnosis.
Pollanisus amethystina
(
Fig. 209
) has a bluish green upper side of the abdomen and is smaller than
P. cupreus
and
P. nielseni
,
which have coppery to gold abdominal upper-sides.
Pollanisus amethystina
and
P. empyrea
are similar in size, but consistently differ in their external appearance. The forewing upper side of
P. empyrea
is uniformly brown with few metallic coppery scales, more densely scaled at the base of the wing, while
P. amethystina
has the forewing tinged with green, due to dispersed brilliant bluish to green scales on a brown background. The body is bluish green to golden in
P. amethystina
and brown and coppery in
P. empyrea
(
Mollet 2019
)
. These two species have close but consistently different head ratios.
Phenology and bionomics.
Pollanisus amethystina
is active during the day, when disturbed and at night (
1
).
P. amethystina
is linked to its larval host-plant
Hibbertia subvaginata
(
Figs 216, 217
). The larvae of
P. amethystina
(
Fig. 218
) and
P. empyrea
(
Fig. 215
) are similar in habitus and cannot be used for differentiation.
(
1
)
Pollanisus empyrea
and
P. amethystina
were mostly collected at the larval stage on their host-plant and flying when disturbed in day time. Moreover these two species were collected flying at night in good numbers (Axel Kallies observation and collecting) and their similar head ratios compared with those of the crepuscular eastern Australian
Pollanisus subdolosa
suggests a similar crepuscular behavior.
The
holotypes
of the new species, and when possible some
paratypes
, will be deposited in the following museums:
-
Queensland
Museum, for species collected in
Queensland
.
- ANIC, for species collected in
New South Wales