Asota speciosa (Drury, 1773)

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Spitsyna, Elizaveta A. & Bolotov, Ivan N., 2022, First records of Aganainae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) from Zanzibar Island with a description of the male of Phaegorista bisignibasis Prout, 1918, Ecologica Montenegrina 56, pp. 44-48 : 46

Asota speciosa (Drury, 1773)

Fig 3 A-C.

Material examined: 5♂, 3♀, TANZANIA: Zanzibar Island, Kiwengwa Forest , dry monsoon forest, 5°59'S, 39°21'E, 24.iii-12.iv.2021, E. Spitsyna & V. Spitsyn leg.

Distribution. Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, São Tomé & Príncipe, mainland Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe ( Prins & Prins 2022) and Zanzibar Island.

Comments. This is the most abundant species of Aganainae on Zanzibar. The yellow forms are most often collected on the island ( Figs 3 A-B) but var. undulifera Walker 1856 can be found there as well ( Fig 3C ).

Figures

Figure 3. Aganainae from Kiwengwa Forest, Zanzibar Island, Tanzania. (A-B) Asota speciosa (Drury, 1773). (C) Asota speciosa var. undulifera Walker 1856. (D) Soloe tripunctata Druce 1896. Scale bar = 10 mm. (Photos: Elizaveta A. Spitsyna).