Erechthias zebrina (BUTLER, 1881)

Bippus, Maik, 2016, New or poorly known Microlepidoptera from the Mascarenes (Lepidoptera: Autostichidae, Bedellidae, Batrachedridae, Carposinidae, Epermeniidae, Gelechiidae, Tineidae, Tortricidae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (2), pp. 347-370 : 351

Erechthias zebrina (BUTLER, 1881)

Wingspan: 7.0–9.5 mm; adult (plate 7: figs 31–32); male genitalia (plate 7, figs 33–33a).

This is another common species that astonishingly had not yet been recorded in La Réunion where it seems to be a rather common moth.

Biology: Its biology remains unknown. All my recorded specimens were caught inside of my living room, mostly on or around some leather furniture. The only other biological substrates in the room are papers (journals & books), wooden furniture, dried flowers and cotton material (curtains & rugs).

This species seems to be present throughout the year and I only collected a few samples for the determination of the species.

Collection dates: 02-vii-2015, 11-viii-2015 (male, slide RE-2038), 26-viii-2015, 22-ix-2015, 23-iv-2016, 07-iii- 2016 (3 pcs.), 11-iii-2016 (4 pcs.), 15-iii-2016 (female, slide RE-2699), 25-iii-2016.

Distribution: A widespread species, known from Australia ( ROBINSON & NIELSEN, 1993), China, Fiji, Hawaii, India, Indonesia, Samoa, South America, Sri Lanka, West Indies ( ZIMMERMAN, 1978). Records from Africa include the Republic of Congo, Mauritius and Seychelles ( DE PRINS & DE PRINS, 2016), recorded new to La Réunion.

Remarks: ZIMMERMAN (1978: 365–368) illustrated its head, male & female genitalia as well as the wing venations.