Pollanisus subdolosa subdolosa (Walker, 1865)

Mollet, Bernard & Tarmann, Gerhard M., 2023, Revision of the genus Pollanisus Walker, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae: Procridinae), Zootaxa 5281 (1), pp. 1-72 : 40-41

Pollanisus subdolosa subdolosa — P. subdolosa clara

Published data ( Tarmann 2004) and an additional new locality.

Material examined. Pollanisus subdolosa clara ( Table 9). Paratype, 1 ♁ ( Figs 128, 130 ), New South Wales. Minyon Falls , 6 km N of Rosebank, 28° 22’ 12”S, 153° 13’ 48”E, 19.XI.1976, I. F. B. Common & E. D. Edwards leg. ( ANIC). Queensland. 1 ♁ (1436) ( Figs 129, 131 ) 4 ♁, Burrum Coast N. P., Point Campground , 25°03′S, 152°31′E, 23/ 24. IV.2008, S. & B. Mollet leg. ( BMC) .

Discussion and diagnosis. Differences in the habitus of the two subspecies are: hindwing opaque in P. s. subdolosa and translucent in P. s. clara but their head features are similar ( Tarmann 2004). Unfortunately, no P. s. subdolosa was examined in ANIC for head ratio comparison with P. s. clara. Until there is more investigation of accurate measurement of head ratios in P. s. subdolosa , the status of the two subspecies is maintained. P. s. subdolosa is similar in habitus to P. edwardsi and P. species 2, but the frons is larger and the eyes smaller in the latter. P. s. clara is very similar in habitus to P. contrastus , P. yugambeh sp. n. and P. trimacula (without spots), but in this last their frons is larger and the eyes smaller. Without careful examination of the head ratios, many male specimens, examined in several museums, cannot be clearly assigned ( Tarmann 2004).

Phenology and bionomics. Males of P. s. subdolosa and P. s. clara were mainly collected at night ( Tarmann 2004). A large series of males of P. s. clara were collected at U. V. light early in the morning ( Tarmann 2004). This behavior, linked to an intermediate value of the head ratio data between the diurnal and the nocturnal species ( Tables 17 , 19), suggests crepuscular activity. Hibbertia scandens (Dilleniaceae) is supposed to be the larval host-plant of P. s. clara ( Tarmann 2004). P. s. subdolosa is localized in Victoria while P. s. clara occurs in New South Wales and south of Queensland. The host-plant of P. s. subdolosa is unknown but should be different than H. scandens , which is not known in the countryside in Victoria, (ALA).

Figures

FIGURES 128–132. Males, upperside and frontal view. Pollanisus subdolosa clara. 128, 130. Paratype, Minyon Falls; 129, 131. Burrum Coast N. P.. 132. Distribution map. Hibbertia scandens–P. subdolosa subdolosa–P. subdolosa clara. (scale bars: 1 mm).