Parapoynx fluctuosalis (Zeller, 1852)

Landry, Bernard & Roque-Albelo, Lazaro, 2006, The Acentropinae and Musotiminae (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Zootaxa 1354, pp. 45-56 : 46

Parapoynx fluctuosalis (Zeller, 1852)

( Figs 1, 2 )

linealis Guenée, 1854 ( Paraponyx [sic])

chrysippusalis (Walker, 1859) ( Oligostigma ) obitalis (Walker, 1859) ( Oligostigma )

curta (Butler, 1879) ( Oligostigma )

luteivittalis (Mabille, 1880) ( Nymphula )

oryzalis Wood-Mason, 1885 ( Paraponyx [sic]) rugosalis Möschler, 1890 ( Paraponyx [sic])

An adult female of Parapoynx fluctuosalis (Zeller) was collected at light on 6 February 1989 on Santa Cruz Island in the Tortuga Reserve, west of Santa Rosa, at roughly 200 m elevation. The specimen is deposited in the CNC and bears slide number CNC PYR 368.

The specimen originally was identified by Eugene G. Munroe and subsequently compared by BL with specimens in the BMNH. The type of P. fluctuosalis lacks its abdomen, but the female genitalia of the lectotype of P. l i n e a l i s (a subjective synonym of fluctuosalis ) match those of the Galapagos specimen. The above synonymy is from Speidel (2005).

The species is sexually dimorphic and its wing colouration is variable ( Figs 1, 2 ). It is pantropical in distribution (Zimmerman 1958; Speidel 2005). In the northern Hemisphere it occurs as far north in Europe as Portugal, Spain, and Great Britain (introduced and found in greenhouses) ( Speidel 2005), but it has not been reported from North America. Its presence in Hawaii (Zimmerman 1958) attests of its ability to colonize oceanic islands.

The larva feeds under water on aquatic Poaceae such as rice ( Oryza sativa L.) and Nymphaea (Zimmerman 1958) , but these plant taxa do not occur in the Galapagos Islands. It constructs and lives inside a case made of fragments of plant material.

Whether this species is established on Santa Cruz Island requires confirmation, but there are semi-permanent ponds, some being permanent most years, in the Tortuga Reserve and in the agriculture zone near Cerro Mesa. Based on collected larval material, a population of an Acentropinae is present on San Cristobal, which has a fresh water lake (El Junco) at 650 m above sea level, and several small creeks. However, BL was not successful in collecting adults at El Junco in 2004 and 2005.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. 1, 2: Parapoynx fluctuosalis (Zeller). 1, Female from Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos (FW = 9.0 mm, CNC); 2, Male from Papua New Guinea (FW = 8.0 mm, D. Agassiz Collection). 3, 4: Undulambia lindbladi Landry. 3, Holotype male; 4, Paratype female from Isabela (MHNG).