Pollanisus acharon (Fabricius, 1775)

Mollet, Bernard & Tarmann, Gerhard M., 2023, Revision of the genus Pollanisus Walker, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae: Procridinae), Zootaxa 5281 (1), pp. 1-72 : 8-11

P. acharon

= P. eumetopus syn. n.

= P. eungellae syn. n.

Published data ( Tarmann 2004, Mollet & Tarmann 2010) and new localities.

Material examined, all from Queensland ( Table 1 ). 1 ♁ (822) ( Figs. 2 , 5 ), Mt Windsor Tableland N. P., 16° 17′40.8′′ S, 145 ° 05′26.7′′ E, 887 m, e. l. L4‒L5, 23.XI.2011, S & B. Mollet leg. ( BMC) ; 9 ♁, SW of Ayton, Bloomsfield Road, Track Cape Tribulation to Helenvale , 15°56′34 S, 145°20′08 E, 10 m, (eggs, larvae from L1‒L6 collected) 4.XII.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 6 ♁, Road to Lake Morris, SW Cairns , 16 ° 56′S, 145 ° 43′E, e. l., 25.V.2008, S & B. Mollet leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁, same data but 16 ° 55′33.2′′S, 145 ° 43′08.8′′E, 150 m, e. l., 8.XII.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁, Misty Mountain, Wooroonooran N. P., 17°38′S, 145°44′E, e.l., 21.V.2008, S & B. Mollet leg. ( BMC) ; 3 ♁, same data but 17°41′26.5′′S, 145°41′43.2′′E, 600 m, e. l., 29.XI.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 2 ♁, same data but 17°38′06.6′′S, 145°37′52.7′′E, 720 m, e. l., 11.XI.2011, S & B. Mollet leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁, Lake Eacham N. P., 17°18′S, 145°37′E, e. l., 17/ 19.V.2008, S & B. Mollet leg ( BMC) ; 1 ♁ (768) ( Figs. 3 , 6 ) and 1 ♁ Mt Hypipamee N. P., 17°25′51.08′′S, 145°29′22.72′′E, 975 m, e. l., 30.XI.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁, Road to Wallaman Falls, Girringun N. P., 18°37′40.1′′S, 145°52′27.8′′E, 490 m, e. l., 26.XI.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁, same data but 18°37′55.6′′S, 145°53′04.3′′E, 250 m, e. l., 13.IV.2013, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁, 14 km E. Blencoe Falls campground, Girringun N. P., 18°10′18.7′′S, 145°37′40.9′′E, 660 m, e. l., 27.XI.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) ; 1 ♁ (765) ( Figs. 4 , 7 ) and 1 ♁, Eungella N. P., Road to Brocken River , 21°09′18.7′′S, 148°30′10.6′′ E, 790 m, e. l., 23.XI.2009, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( BMC) .

Additional material (head ratios examined, but not included in Table 1 ), all from Queensland. 3 ♀, SW of Ayton, Bloomsfield Road, Track Cape Tribulation to Helenvale , 15°56′34 S, 145°20′08 E, 10 m, 24.IV.2013, G. M. Tarmann leg. ( TLMF); 3 ♁, 13 ♀, Misty Mountain , Girringun N. P., 17°38′40 S, 145°43′11 E, 562 m, 17.IV.2013, B. Mollet & G. M. Tarmann leg. ( TLMF) .

Discussion and differential diagnosis. The single female of P. acharon (holotype) and specimens of the larval host plant Pipturus argenteus (Urticaceae) were both collected by Banks and Solander at Endeavour River (Cooktown) from June, 17 to August, 3 of the year 1770 during Captain Cook’s expedition to Australia with the Endeavour (1768–1771) (Per Tingbrand 1988).

P. eumetopus was known from the area of Cairns, and its larvae feed on P. argenteus ( Common 1990: 297) . Until now it was the only known species in Zygaenidae feeding on Urticaceae . P. eungellae was studied and compared with P. eumetopus by one of us ( Tarmann 2004), who concluded that these two taxa represent different species. This opinion was mainly based on the wide distance between their type localities. A visit to Eungella N. P. in 2013 made it possible to collect several larvae feeding on P. argenteus and after breeding provided some adults. The larval host plant, the habitus of the larvae and the head ratios of the imagines were identical to those of P. eumetopus , which suggested that these taxa are conspecific. In addition to the published localities ( Mollet & Tarmann 2010), other populations of Pollanisus feeding on P. argenteus were found in Girringun N. P. (180 km south of Cairns), in Mt Windsor Tableland N. P. and near Ayton about 50 km south of Cooktown. Finally, the female habitus and genitalia ( Tarmann 2004) and the presence of the host plant at the type locality of P. acharon , are strong arguments to consider that all three taxa, P. acharon , P. eumetopus and P. eungellae , are conspecific. Therefore, P. acharon is here recognized as the most senior valid name and P. eumetopus syn. n. and P. eungellae syn. n. are synonyms to P. acharon .

P. acharon is similar in habitus to the two sympatric species P. angustifrons and P. jumbun that share a green abdomen and a similar wingspan, but differ in the head ratio data ( Table 17 ) and further their larval host plants are different.

Another species, which may be identical or at least belong to a species close to P. acharon , was listed as ‘ Pollanisus species 7 ’ by Tarmann (2004). The small compound eyes, the green collar, as well as the green upperside of the abdomen ( Tarmann 2004: pl. 29, fig. 1) and the presence of P. argenteus in the Darwin region suggest that it could in fact be a specimen of P. acharon .

Phenology and bionomic. Details were published previously ( Mollet & Tarmann 2010). Eggs, larvae and imagines were collected on Pipturus argenteus ( Figs 11, 12 ) ( Common, 1990: 297). Mating was observed at the end of the afternoon at 5.30 pm. and 1 female was attracted earlier to UV light at 6.30 am in the morning. The larvae can easily be found and observed under the leaves ( Figs 8–10 ) and their habitus varies from a uniformly cream color without pattern to very strongly marked specimens, with dark marks on the upper part.

P. argenteus is a small tree that can be found mostly at the margins of rainforest, especially in growth after forest-clearing and in tall open forest. In Australia it occurs only on the eastern coast of northern New South Wales, in Queensland and in the Northern Territory ( Fig. 13 ). Outside Australia, it occurs in New Guinea, the Moluccas, Timor, Sumba, Bali, Java, Sumatra and as far north as the Andamanese and Nicobar Islands; also on the Malacca Peninsula and Borneo to the Philippines (ALA, web references).

Distribution map ( Fig. 13 )

Figures

FIGURE 13. Pipturus argenteus. Pollanisus acharon. P. species 7.

FIGURES 2‒4. Pollanisus acharon, upperside view. 2. Mt Windsor; 3. Mt Hypipamee N.P.; 4. Eungella N.P. (scale bar: 1 mm).

FIGURES 5‒7. Pollanisus acharon, head,frontal view.5. MtWindsor;6. Mt HypipameeN.P.; 7. Eungella N.P.. (scale bar:1 mm).

FIGURES 11, 12. Pipturus argenteus.11. Larval host plant of Pollanisus acharon; 12. Flowers and fruits.

FIGURES 8‒10. Pollanisus acharon. 8. Larva in last instar with dark features upperside; 9. Larva weakly coloured; 10. Larva uniformly cream.