THE AUSTRALIAN ENTOMOLOGIST

ABNz#: 15 875 103 670

The Australian Entomologist is a non-profit journal published in four parts annually

by the Entomological Society of Queensland and is devoted to entomology of the

Australian Region, including New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and islands of the

south-western Pacific. Articles are accepted from amateur and professional

entomologists. The journal is produced independently and subscription to the journal

is not included with membership of the society.

The Publications Committee

Editor: Dr D.L. Hancock Business Manager

Assistant Editors: Dr C.J. Burwell Mr R.M. Bull

Queensland Museum (richard.bull @uqconnect.net)

Dr G.B. Monteith

Queensland Museum

Subscriptions

Subscription are payable in advance to the Business Manager, The Australian

Entomologist, P.O. Box 537, Indooroopilly, Qld, Australia, 4068.

For individuals: A$25.00 per annum in Australia.

A$30.00 per annum in Asia-Pacific Region.

A$35.00 per annum elsewhere.

For institutions A$30.00 per annum in Australia.

A$40.00 per annum in Asia-Pacific Region.

A$40.00 per annum elsewhere.

Please forward all overseas cheques/bank drafts in Australian currency.

GST is not payable on our publication.

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND

Membership is open to anyone interested in Entomology. Meetings are normally held

in the Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Queensland on the

second Monday of March-June and August-December each year. Meetings are

announced in the Society’s News Bulletin which also contains reports of meetings,

entomological notes, notices of other Society events and information on Members’

activities.

Enquiries relating to the Society should be directed to the Honorary Secretary,

Entomological Society of Queensland, P.O. Box 537, Indooroopilly, Qld, Australia,

4068.

Sustaining Associates

Centre for Identification and Diagnotics, The University of Queensland; Pest

Management Research, Department of Natural Resources; Tropical Fruit Fly

Research Group, Griffith University.

Cover: The New Caledonian Aoupinia pseudohelea Matthews (Coleoptera:

Tenebrionidae) bears a striking resemblance to Australiafs pie-dish beetles of the

genus Helea. However it belongs to the unrelated Gondwanan tribe Adeliini. This

species is known only from the Aoupinie Special Fauna Reserve that straddles New

Caledoniais central mountain massiff between Poya and Ponerihouen. It is a erptic

species living within rainforest leaf litter. Illustration by Geoff Thompson.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 49-54 49

NEW AUSTRALIAN BUTTERFLY RECORDS (LEPIDOPTERA)

FROM SAIBAI AND DAUAN ISLANDS, TORRES STRAIT,

QUEENSLAND

TREVOR A. LAMBKIN! and A. IAN KNIGHT?

‘Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, 665 F airfield Road, Yeerongpilly,

Old 4105 (Email: Trevor.Lambkin@dpi.qld.gov.au)

?70 Exton Road, Exton, Tas 7303

Abstract

Four butterfly species new to Australia are recorded and illustrated from northern Torres Strait

islands: Graphium codrus medon (C. & R. Felder) and Cyrestis achates nedymnus C. & R.

Felder from Dauan Island, Hypochrysops chrysargyrus Grose-Smith & Kirby from Saibai Island

and Arhopala philander gander Evans from both islands. The relationship between A. philander

C. & R. Felder and 4. madytus Fruhstorfer is discussed. Field observations on the four species

are provided and their distributions discussed.

Introduction

Saibai and Dauan Islands lie in the northern sector of Torres Strait,

Queensland, close to the southern coastline of Papua New Guinea. Saibai is a

relatively large, flat, muddy island covered mostly with mangroves and

halophytic plant species, while Dauan, in contrast, is volcanic in origin with a

large summit covered in boulders and extensive monsoonal vine thickets.

They were considered to be remote up until the early 1980s, after which an

airstrip was constructed on Saibai and ferry travel to Dauan was possible.

Because of this remoteness, there were almost no records of butterflies from

these two islands prior to the early 1990s. Moreover, no collection records

appeared in the literature prior to Braby (2000), who provided a species list

for these islands and nearby Boigu Island. Since the 1980s, a significant

contribution to the knowledge of the butterfly fauna of Saibai and Dauan Is

has been made by a number of collectors (S.S. Brown, S.J. Johnson, A.I.

Knight, T.A. Lambkin, C.E. Meyer, P.S. Valentine and R.P. Weir). As a

result, six butterfly species new to Australia have been discovered on these

islands. Cephrenes moseleyi (Butler) was recorded from Saibai and Dauan by

Lambkin and Knight (2004) and Hypolycaena litoralis Lambkin, Meyer,

Brown & Weir was recently described from these islands (Lambkin et al.

2005). In this paper we document and illustrate four more species new to

Australia, provide comments and field observations for each and discuss their

identification and distribution.

Abbreviations of specimen depositories are: ANIC - Australian National

Insect Collection, Canberra; CEMC - C.E. Meyer collection, Canberra; SSBC

- S.S. Brown collection, Bowral; TLIKC - joint collection of T.A. Lambkin

and A.I. Knight, Brisbane; UQIC - University of Queensland Insect

Collection, Brisbane. Abbreviations of collectors are: AIK - A.I. Knight;

CEM - C.E. Meyer; EC - E. Cameron; EJLH - E.J.L. Hallstrom; RPW - R.P.

Weir; SSB - S.S. Brown; TAL - T.A: Lambkin; WWB - W.W. Brandt.

50 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Graphium codrus medon (C. & R. Felder) (PAPILIONIDAE)

(Fig. 1)

Material examined. QUEENSLAND: 1 0’, Dauan Island, Torres Strait, 17.11.2004,

TAL (TLIKC).

Comments. Graphium codrus (Cramer) is widely distributed from Malaysia

through to the Solomon Islands, including Papua New Guinea (Parsons

1998). Its large size and prominent blunt tails make it one of the most

distinctive members of the genus found in the region. C.E. Meyer (pers.

comm.) first sighted a specimen on Dauan in April 2002. In February 2004,

three more were observed on Dauan, one of which was collected. This

specimen (Fig. 1) is referable to G. c. medon, as illustrated by Parsons (1998)

and D’Abrera (1978), which occurs principally on mainland New Guinea

(Parsons 1998). The specimens observed in 2004 were all feeding at

Melaleuca blossom, while the one seen in 2002 flew over mangroves,

pausing briefly at a flowering vine suspended from the top of a tree on the

landward side of mangroves (C.E. Meyer pers. comm.). Typically, as in other

members of the genus, the specimens observed flew rapidly and when at

blossom fluttered nervously, alighting only briefly on each flower.

Parsons (1998) listed Hernandia species (Hernandiaceae) as larval host

plants, with H. nymphaeifolia (C.Presl) Kubitzki noted as the strand host on

Kiriwina Island in Papua New Guinea. A review of the distribution of H.

nymphaeifolia (= H. peltata Meisn.) in northern Australia (Cribb and Cribb

1985, Hyland et al. 2003, A. Pollock and B.M. Waterhouse pers. comms),

indicates that it is a rarely observed species occurring only to an elevation of

a few metres above sea level (Hyland ef al. 2003). To date, in Torres Strait H.

nymphaeifolia has been observed only on Darnley Island (B.M. Waterhouse

pers. comm., Hyland ef a/. 2003), with records also from the southeast coast

of Papua New Guinea (A. Pollock pers. comm.). Considering the overall

distribution of H. nymphaeifolia in this region, it is possible that it occurs as a

strand species on Dauan and might be the host of G. codrus there.

Cyrestis achates nedymnus C. & R. Felder (NYMPHALIDAE)

(Figs 3-4)

Material examined. QUEENSLAND: 1 Oo’, 1 ?, Dauan Island, Torres Strait, 18.1.2004,

AIK (TLIKC).

Comments. Cyrestis achates Butler occurs from Waigeo and Aru in eastern

Indonesia to Papua New Guinea, including its outlying islands (Parsons

1998). In January 2004, two specimens referable to C. a. nedymnus were

collected on Dauan, a male as it imbibed mineralized water from damp sand

at a watercourse and a female from a flowering shrub. Both flew briskly with

a gliding motion before settling with their wings outspread, behaviour typical

of all Papua New Guinea species of Cyrestis Boisduval (Parsons 1998).

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 51

Figs 1-8. Butterflies from northern Torres Strait islands. All figures: upperside left,

underside right; Figs 3-4 to scale, Figs 5-8 to scale. (1) Graphium codrus medon male,

Dauan, 17.11.2004, TAL [forewing length 49 mm]; (2) Hypochrysops chrysargyrus

female, Saibai, 11.11.2004, AIK [20 mm]; (3-4) Cyrestis achates nedymnus: (3) male,

Dauan, 18.1.2004, AIK [26 mm], (4) female, Dauan, 18.i1.2004, AIK [28 mm]; (5-6)

Arhopala philander gander: (5) male, Saibai, 8.v.2000, AIK [23 mm], (6) female,

Saibai, 8.v.2000, AIK [21 mm]; (7-8) Arhopala madytus: (7) male, Dauan, 5.v.2000,

AIK [26 mm], (8) female, Dauan, 3.iv.2001, AIK [24 mm].

52 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Parsons (1998) listed Trophis (= Malaisia) scandens (Lour.) Hook. & Arn.

(Moraceae) as the host plant in Papua New Guinea. 7. scandens is a

scrambling or climbing shrub (Chew 1989) that typically grows in rainforest,

including beach and monsoon forest (Hyland et al. 2003). Currently in Torres

Strait, T. scandens is only recorded from the eastern islands of Murray (A.

Pollock and B.M. Waterhouse pers. comms) and Darnley (Hyland et al.

2003). In Australia and Papua New Guinea, 7. scandens is also the recorded

host of Euploea tulliolus (Fabricius) (Nymphalidae) (Parsons 1998, Braby

2000), whose known distribution in Torres Strait is primarily confined to the

eastern islands (Murray, Darnley, Campbell and Dalrymple), the two eastern

central islands (Sue and Yam), Thursday Island in the south and Dauan Island

in the north (pers. obs., De Baar 1988). All of these islands have stands of

beach or monsoon forest and, considering that many of them have not been

surveyed thoroughly for butterflies, especially during December and January

(Lambkin and Knight 1990) when C. achates might predominately fly, it is

possible that C. achates might also occur elsewhere in Torres Strait.

Arhopala philander gander Evans (LY CAENIDAE)

(Figs 5-6)

Material examined. QUEENSLAND: 1 ©’, Saibai Island, 18.vii.1975, EC (UQIC);

1 g, 1 9, same data except 29.11.1996 (©, genitalia vial) or 22.11.1994 (?), TAL

(TLIKC: both illustrated by Braby 2000); 23 0707, 30 99, same data except 18.iv.2000

(©), 20.iv.2000 (F), 21.iv.2000 (9), 22.iv.2000 (2 0707), 29.iv.2000 (2 99), 1.v.2000

(£), 8.v.2000 (9 O07, 2 99), 3.iv.2001 (?), 5.iv.2001 (2 oO", 2 99), 7.iv.2001 (9),

3.v.2001 (3 O70", 3 99), 4.v.2001 (2 99), 5.v.2001 (4 0", 4 99), 7.v.2001 (1 0%, 8 99),

18.v.2001 (1 ©, 1 9), 22.v.2001 (1 ?), AIK (TLIKC); 1 0%, 1 ?, same data except

20.iv.-13.v.2000, AIK (CEMC); 4 d'0, 3 °°, same data except 19-20.iv.2001 (1 9),

CEM & SSB, bred larva-emerged 20.v.2001 (1 9), CEM, 25-26.iv.2002 (1 07, 1 ?),

CEM, SSB & RPW, 3-4.v.2002 (3 0’0"), CEM, SSB & RPW (CEMC); 1 0%, 2 99,

same data except 20.iv.-13.v.2000, AIK (SSBC); 3 oo, 1 9, same data except

20.iv.2001 (1 0”), SSB & CEM, 3.v.2002 (2 o’0", 1 2), SSB, CEM, & RPW (SSBC);

1 oO’, 2 99, Dauan Island, 1.iv.2001 (1 ©, 1 ?), 4.iv.2001 (1 9), AIK (TLIKC); 1 0%, 4

99, same data except 13-18.iv.2001 (1 0%, 3 99), CEM & SSB, 26.iv.-2.v.2002 (1 9),

CEM, SSB & RPW (CEMC); 3 d'O, 2 ?9, same data except 13-18.iv.2001, SSB &

CEM (SSBC). PAPUA NEW GUINEA: 3 g'o, 1 9, Kiunga, Fly River, 2.vii-

31.x.1957, WWB (©, genitalia vial); 1 0’, Amazon Bay Area, Deria, 700 ft,

11.xii.1962-9.1.1963, WWB; 1 ?, Maprik (Sepik District), 600 ft, 1950, WWB and

EJLH (ANIC).

Comments. A male specimen (in UQIC) of an Arhopala Boisduval species,

new to Australia, was collected on Saibai in July 1975 by E. Cameron (G.B.

Monteith pers. comm.). Its specific identity at that time was unknown and

D.L. Hancock (G.B. Monteith pers. comm.) tentatively placed it within the

‘centaurus’ species group of Evans (1957). Braby (2000) documented and

illustrated a second male and a female from Saibai collected in the 1990s and

referred to them as ‘Arhopala sp. Saibai.’ Braby (2000) noted that these

specimens resembled A. philander C. & R. Felder but, because of their worn

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 53

condition, they could not be positively identified. Since then, more specimens

have been collected from Saibai and Dauan and comparisons between their

external facies and genitalia and those of A. philander from the Western

Province of Papua New Guinea (in ANIC), plus genitalia illustrations in

Parsons (1998), have confirmed that the species is A. philander.

Evans (1957) divided Arhopala (as Narathura Moore) into 12 species

groups. Parsons (1998) agreed with Evans’ division but suggested that only

eight of these groups occurred in Papua New Guinea. Evans (1957) and

Parsons (1998) placed A. philander in the ‘centaurus’ group, distinguished by

having an unbroken underside forewing discal (postmedian) band (or only

slightly dislocated at vein R4), with the upper part directed to the dorsum

(costa) and a long hindwing tail, ciliate on its dorsal side. Within this group

in northern Torres Strait, A. philander appears closest in external facies to A.

madytus Fruhstorfer (Figs 7-8), with which it occurs. Both species have a

uniform purple sheen on the underside, which is particularly noticeable on

fresh specimens. A. philander is generally smaller than A. madytus. On the

underside of the wings, the pattern of A. philander is less distinct, the

postmedian bands are narrower and the underside ground colour is darker

brown than in A. madytus. On the upperside, both sexes of A. philander have

a more purple hue than in 4. madytus, while females of A. philander have

less extensive areas of purple-blue than A. madytus females.

Arhopala philander occurs widely from Batjan and Halmahera in eastern

Indonesia to Papua New Guinea, including some outlying islands. Torres

Strait specimens appear indistinguishable from those from nearby Papua New

Guinea and are referable to A. p. gander. In Torres Strait almost all

specimens have been collected in or near mangroves although, in 2001, one

of us (AIK) collected adults off foliage of Terminalia catappa L.

(Combretaceae) behind the beach on Dauan.

Hypochrysops chrysargyrus Grose-Smith & Kirby (LYCAENIDAE)

(Fig. 2)

Material examined. QUEENSLAND: 1 9, Saibai Island, Torres Strait, 11.11.2004, AIK

(TLIKC).

Comments. Hypochrysops chrysargyrus is a distinctive rainforest species

(Sands 1986) that occurs sporadically across New Guinea, where it is

endemic (Parsons 1998). In general, the species is considered rare (Parsons

1998), but males are known to frequently congregate on moist sand (Sands

1986). In February 2004, a female was collected on Saibai not far from the

island’s village. D.P.A. Sands (pers. comm.) and T.L. Fenner (in Parsons

1998) have observed the life history of this species in Papua New Guinea and

report that the larvae feed on the fresh foliage of Pommetia (= Pometia)

pinnata J.R. Forster & J.G. Forster (Sapindaceae) and are attended by ants.

This tree, locally known as ‘taun’ in Papua New Guinea (Parsons 1998) is

54 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

grown in village gardens and produces edible fruit that resemble lychees

(Litchi chinensis Sonn. Mill. [Sapindaceae]). Despite H. chrysargyrus being

restricted primarily to rainforest and secondary forest (Parsons 1998), D.P.A.

Sands (pers. comm.) considers it likely that P. pinnata might be grown in

village gardens on Saibai and thus H. chrysargyrus could be resident on the

island. Sands (1986) and Parsons (1998) reported that females are rarely

collected and the specimen from Saibai is the fourth female known.

Acknowledgements

We thank the local community councils of Saibai and Dauan for permitting entry onto

their islands and acknowledge the following for providing valuable personal

communications: G.B. Monteith (Queensland Museum), A. Pollock (Queensland

Herbarium), B.M. Waterhouse (Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy), C.E. Meyer

and D.P.A. Sands. Appreciation is given to S.S. Brown, C.E. Meyer, G. Daniels

(UQIC) and E.D. Edwards (ANIC) for access to specimens in their care. J.S. Bartlett

gave valuable support by formatting and preparing the colour plate.

References

BRABY, M.F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution.

CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood; xx + 976 pp.

CHEW, W.L. 1989. Flora of Australia, Hamamelidales to Casuarinales (Moraceae) 3: 15-68.

Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra; xvi + 219 pp.

CRIBB, A.B. and CRIBB, J.W. 1985. Plant life of the Great Barrier Reef and adjacent shores.

University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia; xviii + 294 pp.

D’ABRERA, B. 1978. Butterflies of the Australian Region. 2nd Edition. Lansdowne, Melbourne;

415 pp.

DE BAAR, M. 1988. Insects collected during a trip to Torres Strait 27 March to 10 April, 1987.

News Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Queensland 15: 107-117.

EVANS, W.H. 1957. A revision of the Arhopala group of Oriental Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera:

Rhopalocera). Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology) 5: 83-141.

HYLAND, B.P.M., WHIFFIN, T., CHRISTOPHEL, D.C., GRAY, B. and ELICK, R.W. 2003.

Australian tropical rain forest plants - trees, shrubs and vines. CD-Rom. CSIRO Publishing,

Collingwood.

LAMBKIN, T.A. and KNIGHT, A.I. 1990. Butterflies recorded from Murray Island, Torres

Strait, Queensland. Australian Entomological Magazine 17: 101-112.

LAMBKIN, T.A. and KNIGHT, A.I. 2004. The first Australian record of Cephrenes moseleyi

(Butler) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from Torres Strait, Queensland. Australian Entomologist

31(3): 107-109.

LAMBKIN, T.A., MEYER, C.E., BROWN, S.S., WEIR, R.P., DONALDSON, J.F. and

KNIGHT, A.I. 2005. A new species of Hypolycaena C. & R. Felder (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

from Australia and its relationship with H. phorbas (Fabricius). Australian Entomologist 32(1):

17-35.

PARSONS, M.J. [1998]. The butterflies of Papua New Guinea: their systematics and biology.

Academic Press, London; xvi + 736 pp.

SANDS, D.P.A. 1986. A revision of the genus Hypochrysops C. & R. Felder (Lepidoptera:

Lycaenidae). Entomonograph 7: 1-116.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 55-64 55

THE STATUS OF OPODIPHTHERA CARNEA (SONTHONNAX) AND

OPODIPHTHERA LORANTHI (LUCAS) (LEPIDOPTERA:

SATURNIIDAE) IN NORTHERN AND EASTERN AUSTRALIA

D.A. LANE! and E.D. EDWARDS?

13 Janda Street, Atherton, Old 4883

?Division of Entomology, CSIRO, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601

Abstract

Opodiphthera carnea (Sonthonnax) and O. loranthi (Lucas) are confirmed as separate species,

occurring in northern and eastern Australia respectively. Notes are presented on diagnostic

characters, aspects of their biology and life histories.

Introduction

The name Antheraea carnea Sonthonnax, 1899 has not been widely used in

the Australian literature and the identity of the species has been in some

doubt. When Turner (1922) revised the Australian Saturniidae he did not

include the name and may have been unaware of it. Seitz (1928) used the

name and illustrated a specimen (his Fig. 52c) but considered it a form of

Caligula helena (White). Schiissler (1933) listed the name and followed Seitz

in treating it as a form of Austrocaligula helena. Bouvier and Riel (1931) and

Bouvier (1936) both listed it in the genus Opodiphthera Wallengren as a

valid species. Edwards (1996), recognizing Seitz’s (1928) figure and

checking the original description, placed it as a synonym of Opodiphthera

loranthi (Lucas, 1891), a species well known to Australian lepidopterists.

Lane et al. (1997) recognized differences between the northern and southern

populations of what was then known as O. loranthi. D’ Abrera (1998) treated

O. carnea and O. loranthi as separate species and illustrated both, although

he misidentified two of the three specimens illustrated. The treatment by

D’Abrera (1998) led us to re-examine the identity of O. carnea and we now

consider that O. carnea and O. loranthi are separate species, which differ in

their appearance, morphology, distribution and biology.

Sonthonnax (1899) described O. carnea, in a Report of the Commission of

the Laboratoire D’Etudes de la Soie (Laboratory for Studies of Silk), from an

unspecified number of specimens of both sexes. He gave the locality as ‘Nord

de |’Australie’ (northern Australia) and referred to a ‘type’, which we

interpret as a holotype, together with specimens in the Rothschild Collection.

We have accepted the implication that the holotype was in the collection of

the Laboratoire. Bouvier and Riel (1931) listed a single male in the collection

of the Laboratoire from Georgetown, Queensland plus five other specimens,

including a female labelled ‘Australie’ and four specimens collected after the

original description was published. Bouvier (1936) appended ‘(Mus. Paris)’

to his listing of O. carnea and we interpret this to mean that the holotype was

then in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. An enquiry was

made on our behalf by the late Dr Ebbe Nielsen to Dr Joel Minet but the type

could not be found. Drs Minet, P. Viette and P-C. Rougeot concurred that the

56 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

type should be in the museum collection but as it could not be found it should

be regarded as lost. Nevertheless, there seems to be some possibility of the

holotype being found and we have refrained from describing a neotype.

The original description of O. carnea was reasonably detailed and

Sonthonnax (1899) mentioned ‘two forms’ and also ‘intermediates’. The

mention of two forms suggests that Sonthonnax described both species

originally but we do not know what he meant by ‘intermediates’. In the

absence of the holotype of O. carnea we interpret this species on the basis of

its distribution, representing the northern species, found in northern

Queensland and the Northern Territory. O. /oranthi is the more southern

species, found in central and southern Queensland, New South Wales and the

Australian Capital Territory. However, it should be noted that the rather

crude illustration provided by Sonthonnax (1899) is a better representation of

O. loranthi than of O. carnea. Should the holotype of O. carnea be found in

the future then the question of its identity may need to be revisited.

Lucas (1891) described Antheraea loranthi from an unspecified number of

specimens (there were many) from ‘Brisbane to Duaringa, Qld’. A specimen

in the Lucas collection in the South Australian Museum, labelled ‘Brisbane

Lucas coll.’ and ‘Antheraea loranthi Lucas TYPE I 14346 Id by N. Tindale

probably type’, is certainly one of the syntypes and is here designated as

Lectotype in order to stabilize the name for future studies. A photograph of

this specimen has been examined and it is the species we here call O.

loranthi, which was first placed in Opodiphthera by Bouvier (1936). Lucas

(1891) gave some information about its biology and more details were given

by Common (1990), who also illustrated the larva in colour.

Opodiphthera carnea (Sonthonnax, 1899)

(Figs 1-2, 5-6, 14-16)

Material examined. NORTHERN TERRITORY: 1 0%, 12.52S 132.50E, Koongarra,

10.ii1.1974, M.S. Upton; 1 0%, same data but 20.ii.1974, J.L. Curtis; 4 oo", 1 9,

12.19S 133.19E, Nabarlek, Melanie Webb, with dates 19.iii.1983, 6.iv.1983, 11.xi.

1983, 16.xi.1983, no date; 1 0, 15.07S 131.42E, 98 km SW of Katherine, 1.iv.1995,

E.D. Edwards & M. Matthews (all in Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC),

Canberra); 1 0’, Mahaffey Rd, Howard Springs, 5.iv.1993, D.N. Wilson (in D.A. Lane

coll.); 1 o, Howard Springs, 25.iv.1995, C.E. Meyer, D.A. Lane & D.N. Wilson (in

C.E. Meyer coll., Canberra). QUEENSLAND: 1 0’, 15.11S 144.25E, 7 km ESE New

Laura, Lakefield Nat. Pk, 27.vii.1998, E.D. Edwards; 1 0’, 15.138 143.55E, 5 km SE

Hann River, 15.i.1994, E.D. Edwards & P. Zborowski; 2 00’, 15.16S 144.49E, 14 km

WbyN Hope Vale Mission, 9.x.1980, E.D. Edwards; 1 0’, 15.18S 145.01E, 31 km

NWbyN Cooktown, 20.v.1977, I.F.B. Common & E.D. Edwards; 1 0%, 15.30S

145.16E, 5 km SEbyS Cooktown, 19.v.1977, I.F.B. Common & E.D. Edwards, ANIC

genitalia slides 13106, 13107; 2 o'o, 15.45S 144.15E, 2 km NNW Jowalbinna,

17.1.1994, E.D. Edwards & P. Zborowski; 1 0%, 17.018 145.35E, Davies Creek Nat.

Pk, 22.11.1998, E.D. Edwards & H. Sutrisno; 1 0’, 18.07S 144.49E, Forty Mile Scrub,

1.xii.1970, R. Hardie; 2 00", same data except date 17.ii.1998 and collector R.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 57

Oberprieler; 1 ?, Townsville, 5.xi.1900, F.P. Dodd; 1 9, same locality without further

data; 1 o, 20.30S 144.50E, 5 km S Warang Camp, White Mts, 6.iv.2000, E.D.

Edwards (all in ANIC); 8 Oo’, 4 99, 12 km N Atherton, bred/pupa, 22.x.1999,

12,19,21,24.xi.1999, 18,20.xii.1999 & 3,5,15,18.i1.2000, D.A. Lane; 8 00%, 3 99, 10

km N Atherton, bred/pupa, 22.xii.1993, 26,28.x.2003, 8,20,22,25.xi.2003 &

4,8,9,10.xii.2003, D.A. Lane; 14 d'o, 8 9°, 30 km NW Atherton, bred/pupa,

1,2,4,5,7.x.2000, 22,23,25.xi.2000, 2,4,6.xii.2000, 16.11.2001, 19.iii.2001, 29.x.2003

& 2,6,8,12,13,26.xi.2003, D.A. Lane; 1 0’, 4 99, 20 km W Mt. Surprise, 18.21S,

144.15E, bred/pupa, 28.x.2003, 9,11.xi.2003 & 8,10.xii.2003, D.A. Lane; 1 ©,

Townsville, bred/pupa, 27.vii.2001, S.J. Johnson; 2 00’, Bogie R., 96 km W Bowen,

29.xi.1970, D.A. Lane (all in D.A. Lane coll.); 1 0’, Cooktown, ii.1991, Bernard

Turlin, genitalia slide SNB 925/03 (in S. Naumann coll., Berlin).

Male genitalia (Figs 5-6). Uncus fairly narrow, angled downwards, tip

bifurcate with two down-pointed teeth; tegumen broad, arched; vinculum

broad; saccus broad, curved anteriorly; valva short, very broadly triangular,

with a bluntly pointed tip, a large subspherical projection from near the base

of the costa, with one long pointed projection and several rounded

protrusions; aedeagus short, broad, tip slightly notched.

Distribution. O. carnea is known from the Northern Territory at about 100

km SW of Katherine, from the Darwin area, Kakadu National Park and

western Arnhem Land. In Queensland it is known from Lakefield National

Park, from Cooktown, then south through the western Atherton Tableland to

Townsville and inland to Forty Mile Scrub, from near Georgetown and Mt.

Surprise, the White Mountains and from an area 96 km west of Bowen.

Life history and biology. The foodplants are pendulous mistletoes belonging

to the genus Amyema (Loranthaceae), often A. miquelii, growing high on

eucalypt trees. The egg is of the flat type, ovoid in shape, 2 mm x 1.5 mm x 1

mm high, creamy white, laid in batches of 3-20 on stems or (less frequently)

leaves of the foodplant. First instar larva 4 mm long when first hatched; head

and legs black, body mostly black with light tan markings; covered in fine

black setae mostly arranged on scoli. Second instar larva 10-25 mm long;

head and legs black; body light brown, with darker brown markings and

black setae. Third instar larva (Fig. 14) 25-40 mm long; head black, ocelli

dark brown; prothoracic plate very dark brown, almost black, with rows of

white setae extending forward, looking superficially like human eyelashes;

legs and prolegs dark brown, also adorned with white setae; spiracles

distinctly white, surrounded by dark brown rings; body light creamy-brown,

adorned with raised scoli which are basally dark brown becoming rose pink

distally and adorned with a whirl of white setae at the top; the scoli on each

segment are joined by a dark brown band, giving a banded appearance.

Fourth instar larva 40-70 mm long; similar to fifth instar, but body is light

brown in ground colour. Fifth instar larva (Figs 15-16) 70-120 mm long; head

and ocelli black, with fine white setae; legs black, covered in fine white setae;

upper part of legs adorned with white spatula-like setae; body bright green,

58 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Figs 1-4. Opodiphthera spp., uppersides. (1-2) O. carnea: (1) female; (2) male. (3-4)

O. loranthi: (3) female; (4) male.

same colour as mistletoe leaves, providing remarkably good camouflage for

such a large larva; each thoracic and abdominal segment ringed by a black

band that straddles spiracles, extending up from the legs; each black band

contains raised scoli coloured rose pink; tips of scoli bear a white, spoon or

spatula shaped seta; white setae also straddle the body on each side of the

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 59

black bands; spiracles distinctly white; a lateral row of scoli occurs below

spiracles; abdominal segments 1-6 carry four scoli above spiracles; anal

segment also carries four scoli; anal segment and prolegs black, covered in

white setae; anal plate dark brown, with fine white setae.

Figs 5-8. Opodiphthera spp., male genitalia. (5-6) O. carnea: (5) lateral view with left

valva removed, genitalia slide ANIC 13106; (6) lateral view left valva, genitalia slide

ANIC 13106. (7-8) O. loranthi: (7) lateral view with left valva removed, genitalia

slide ANIC 13108; (8) lateral view left valva, genitalia slide ANIC 13108.

Larvae spin their cocoons gregariously in a clump on the mistletoe butt, with

individual clumps of 3-40 cocoons being found. Individual cocoons are quite

tough and rigid. The cocoon clump, however, usually has an outer layer of

silk, slightly detached from but attached to the cocoons, slightly loose and

covering the cocoon clump like an outer wall. This outer silk layer is often

60 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

similarly coloured to the mistletoe branches, providing remarkably good

camouflage. Adults usually emerge from their cocoons after 2200 h and may

not fly until 2300 h or later. The habitat in which this species occurs is the

drier open eucalypt woodland of the northern savannah country, where good

quantities of Amyema mistletoes occur.

Opodiphthera loranthi (Lucas, 1891)

(Figs 3-4, 7-13)

Material examined. QUEENSLAND: 1 ?, 21.02S 149.10E, Bucasia, 17.ix.1995, K.J.

Sandery; 1 ?, Marmor to Bajool, Bruce Highway, 16.iii.1995, G. Clarke; 1 ©’,

Duaringa, 17.x.1919, 1 9, same locality, 22.x.1919; 1 0’, Gayndah; 2 99, Noosa,

16.11.1967, V.J. Robinson; 1 0’, Toowoomba, 30.xii.1927, W.B. Barnard, 2 9°, same

data except dates 25.xii.1927, 30.xii.1927; 1 0’, Toowoomba, 1.ii.1963, J. Macqueen;

1 0, 27.338 151.59E, Prince Henry Heights, Toowoomba, 15.i.1983, I.F.B. Common,

1 g, same data except 16.11.1993; 1 o, Brisbane, [A.J. Turner]; 1 9, Brisbane,

12.11.1928, A.N. Burns; 4 d'O, 3 99, Brisbane, 9.i.1955, 10.i.1955, 12.1.1955,

15.i.1955, C. Franzen; 3 oo’, 1 ?, Millmerran, 15.i.1956, 1.ii.1956, 3.ii.1956,

4.i1.1956, J. Macqueen; 1 ?, Glen Aplin, 10.xii.1948, Jean Gemmell; 2 00’, 3 99,

Stanthorpe, 23.xi.1927, 24.xi.1927, 25.xi.1927, 29.xii.1927, 4.ii.1928, W.B. Barnard;

2 OO, Killarney, 9.ii.1928, 12.11.1947, W.B. Barnard; 6 00", 5 99, Killarney, no date,

5.xi1.1933, 7.xii.1933, 12.11.1944, 5.xi.1944, 26.xi.1944, 8.xii.1944, E.J. Dumigan (all

in ANIC); 1 9, Dawson River; 1 0’, Chambers Flat, 6.xii.1992, R. McDonald; 1 ©’,

Toowoomba, 1.1.1928, W.B. Barnard; 1 9, Brisbane, xi.1927, H. Hacker; 1 ©,

Tamborine Mt, 1.1956, G. King; 4 o’o’, 2 99, Killarney, 29.xii.1927, 11.i.1928,

13.1.1928, W.B. Barnard (all in Queensland Museum, Brisbane); 4 00%, 4 99,

Toowoomba, bred/pupa, 20,21.xii.1974, D.A. Lane; 2 0'0", 2 99, Leyburn, bred/pupa,

2.iii.1977, 2,25.xi.1977, 26.xii.1977, D.A. Lane; I 0’, Ravensbourne, 23.xii.1979,

D.A. Lane (in D.A. Lane coll.). NEW SOUTH WALES: 2 00’, Sheep Stn Ck, Border

Ranges Nat. Pk, 5.ii.1999, E.D. Edwards; 1 0, 7 mls W Rosebank, 8.xi.1961, I.F.B.

Common & M.S. Upton; 2 00", Dorrigo Nat. Pk, 17.xi.1976, I.F.B. Common & M.S.

Upton; 1 ©, 1 9, Entrance, New England Nat. Pk, 26.xii.1960, 5.ii.1962, C.W.

Frazier, male with ANIC genitalia slides 13108, 13109; 1 ©, O’Sullivans Gap,

15.xi.1976, I.F.B. Common & E.D. Edwards; 1 0”, Caparra, 2.1.1992, J. Stockard; 1 9,

Narara, 3.x.1949, L.H. Mosse-Robinson; 1 0%, Gosford, 20.iii.1952, L.H. Mosse-

Robinson; 1 ©, Otford, 17.xii.1962, V.J. Robinson; 2 oo’, Mt Keira, 29.xi.1977,

1.xii.1979, V.J. Robinson; 1 0’, Wirrimbirra Picton, 30.xi.1967, V.J. Robinson; 1 0,

Minnamurra Falls, 18.i.1969, V.J. Robinson; 1 ©, 1 9, Bawley Point, 3.x.1997,

3.xii.1997, D.C.F. Rentz; 1 9, Cochranes Flat, 9 km SW Eden, xii.1999, L. Simpson

(all in ANIC); 1 9, Inverell, xii.1977, J.I. Giddings (in D.A. Lane coll.).

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY: 1 g, Canberra env., Gympie St lantern,

8.xi.1983, Dirk Casteleyn, genitalia slide SNB 926/03 (in S. Naumann coll., Berlin).

Male genitalia (Figs 7-8). Uncus fairly narrow, angled downwards, tip

bifurcate with two down-pointed teeth; tegumen broad, arched; vinculum

broad; saccus broad, curved anteriorly; valva short, very broadly triangular,

with a bluntly pointed tip, a large subspherical projection from near the base

of the costa, with four short blunt projections of about equal size; aedeagus

short, broad, tip slightly truncate.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 61

Figs 9-16. Opodiphthera spp., larvae. (9-13) O. loranthi: (9) first instar; (10) second

instar; (11) fourth instar; (12-13) final instar. (14-16) O. carnea: (14) third instar; (15-

16) final instar.

62 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Distribution. O. loranthi is known from Bucasia in northern central

Queensland south along the coast and tablelands to Cochranes Flat south of

Eden, NSW (where it has recently been reared by Mr Lewis Simpson) and

from Canberra, ACT.

Life history and biology. At Toowoomba and Leyburn larvae of O. loranthi

utilize Amyema miquelii (pers. obs. DAL). Recorded fooplants are A. miquelii

(Hagan 1983), A. pendula (V.J. Robinson and L. Simpson, pers. comms) and

A. quandang (J. Macqueen, label data). First instar larva (Fig. 9) with head

and legs shiny black; body light brown; abdominal segments 1, 6, 7 and anal

segment black; each segment carries raised light brown scoli - those on

abdominal segments 1, 6, 7 and anal segment are black in colour; each scolus

carries an upper whorl of brown setae. Second instar larva (Fig. 10) similar to

first instar but body entirely light brown; scoli brown with black upper tips.

Fourth instar larva (Fig. 11) with head, legs and anal segment black; head and

prothoracic plate with white setae; body light brown; each segment is ringed

by a narrow black band that extends up from legs; anal prolegs adorned with

scattered white setae; scoli black, adorned with irregularly scattered white

setae. Fifth instar larva (Figs 12-13) with head, prothoracic plate and legs

black, carrying scattered white setae; body olive green; each thoracic and

abdominal segment ringed by a broad central black band that extends up from

legs; each black band contains raised scoli, black in colour, which are

adomed with scattered white setae on tips; spiracles white.

Larvae pupate in a cluster of cocoons on the mistletoe butt, with aggregations

of pupae ranging from three to forty having been found. Individual cocoons

are quite tough and rigid and, like O. carnea, are also enclosed in a slightly

detached silk layer, also coloured like the mistletoe branches and giving

excellent camouflage. The habitat of O. Joranthi is the open eucalypt

woodland of central Queensland and New South Wales.

Discussion and comparison

Larvae of both species are fairly similar, although noticeable differences in

the various larval instars, particularly the final, are evident. The final instar

larva of O. loranthi (Figs 12-13, locality Toowoomba, Qld) shows distinctive

differences from the final instar larva of O. carnea (Figs 15-16, locality 30

km NW Atherton, Qld). In O. Joranthi the base colour is a much darker

green, almost greyish. The raised scoli stems are black in colour, matching

the black body bands, as opposed to the rose-pink scoli stems of O. carnea.

The black segmental bands of O. /oranthi are wider than those of O. carnea

and also do not have the white adjacent setae present in O. carnea. The anal

plate of O. loranthi is also a much lighter brown colour than in O. carnea.

We have not seen specimens from the area west of Bowen in the north to

Bucasia (north of Mackay) in the south. It is not known if this area represents

a gap in distribution between the two species, whether they overlap in this

area, or if they are allopatric.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 63

Sonthonnax (1899) gave a reasonable description of O. carnea but it lacked

the diagnostic features needed to distinguish it from: O. loranthi and the

illustration given was too crude to be reliable. O. carnea was illustrated in

colour by Seitz (1928) and was correctly identified but Seitz did not illustrate

O. loranthi. O. loranthi was correctly illustrated in black and white by

Common (1990, Fig. 40.8). The best coloured illustrations of adults available

are those of D’Abrera (1998) but two of these were misidentified: the male

figured opposite p. 22 is O. Joranthi and not O. carnea as stated; the female

opposite p. 22 is O. carnea and is correctly identified; the male figured

opposite p. 26 is O. carnea and not O. loranthi as stated.

On the forewings of both sexes the postmedian band is more heavily marked

in dark grey proximally in O. carnea and is a little more parallel to the

termen and closer to the termen when it reaches the dorsum in O. carnea than

in O. loranthi. If the inner margin of this postmedian band is well defined as

it curves near the costa, then it is smoothly rounded in O. carnea and slightly

waved in O. loranthi. It is more usually well defined in O. carnea. Also, on

the forewings of both sexes the subapical black spot is larger in O. carnea.

On both wings the eyespots are generally larger in O. carnea than in O.

loranthi and have darker red-brown centres. The black outer crescent of the

forewing eyespot is broader in O. carnea and is margined on the inner side by

a fine white line. This white line is absent in O. loranthi. The forewing

termen is less concave in O. carnea than in O. loranthi. The hindwing

postmedian band is usually more clearly defined in both sexes of O. carnea.

Males of O. carnea range from reddish orange to mustard yellow while males

of O. loranthi are almost always reddish orange and only very rarely mustard

yellow. Females of O. Joranthi are reddish orange while those of O. carnea

are consistently paler and more reddish yellow. On the underside of both

wings of O. carnea the postmedian line is a broad band of scattered black

scales, ill defined but well developed and reminiscent of the postmedian band

on the upperside of O. engaea Turner. On the underside of O. loranthi the

postmedian band is usually absent, sometimes very vaguely defined on the

forewing but in the hindwing is usually represented by a very vague area of

paler and pinker scales than the ground colour.

The white line on the inner margin of the outer black crescent of the forewing

eyespot in O. carnea is perhaps the easiest distinguishing character to use in

initially sorting specimens.

The male genitalia of the two species are similar but differ in the form of the

subspherical projection from near the base of the costa of the valva, which in

O. carnea is more squared and has one long projection and several short

rounded lumps, while in O. /oranthi it is more rounded and has four short

blunt projections. The tip of the aedeagus differs slightly, being notched in O.

carnea and truncate in O. loranthi.

64 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Conclusion

Noticeable, consistent differences in adult wing pattern and shape, together

with differences in male genitalia and larval morphology, confirm the

separate status of these two species. With further collecting the distributions

will probably be found to be more extensive, particularly that of O. carnea

across northern Australia.

Acknowledgements

We thank Chris Burwell (Queensland Museum), Stefan Naumann (Berlin),

Dave Wilson, Cliff Meyer and Steve Johnson for the donation of, or access to

specimens in their care. Garry Sankowsky, Andreas Zwick and Steve Brown

offered much assistance with larval photographs. Vanna Rangsi (ANIC)

provided the genitalia images. We also thank the Queensland Parks and

Wildlife Service for scientific permits allowing research within National

Parks and State Forest areas under their jurisdiction.

References

BOUVIER, E.L. 1936. Etude des saturnioides normaux. Famille des saturniidés. Mémoires du

Muséum National d'histoire Naturelle 3: 1-354, pls 1-7.

BOUVIER, E.L. and RIEL, PH. 1931. Essai de classification des Lépidoptéres producteurs de

soie. 9e Fascicule. Facsimile 1977. Editions Sciences Nat, Paris; 141 pp.

COMMON, I.F.B. 1990. Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press, Carlton; xxxii + 535

pp.

D’ABRERA, B. 1998. Saturniidae Mundi. Saturniid moths of the world. Part III. Goecke &

Evers, Keltern, Germany; x + 171 pp.

EDWARDS, E.D. 1996. Saturniidae. Pp 264-265, 364-365, in: Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. and

Rangsi, T.V. (eds), Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian

Lepidoptera, Vol. 4. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood; xiv + 529 pp.

HAGAN, C.E. 1983. The occurrence of Ogyris (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in empty saturniid

cocoons. Australian Entomological Magazine 9(6): 95-96.

LANE, D.A., WILSON, D.N. and MEYER, C.E. 1997. New distribution records and notes for

Opodiphthera loranthi (Luc.) Lepidoptera: Saturniidae. Victorian Entomologist 27: 27.

LUCAS, T.P. 1891. On Queensland and other Australian Lepidoptera, with descriptions of new

species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 6: 277-306,

SCHUSSLER, H. 1933. Saturnioidea: Saturniidae: 2. subfamily Saturniinae. Lepidopterorum

Catalogus 10(Pars 56): 1-324.

SEITZ, A. 1928. Saturniidae, Emperor-Moths. Pp 505-520, pls 53-56, in: Seitz, A. (ed.), The

Macrolepidoptera of the World. 10. Bombyces and Sphinges of the Indo-Australian Region. 2

vols. Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart; 909 pp, 100 pls.

SONTHONNAX, M.L. 1899. Essai de classification des Lépidopteres producteurs de soie.

Deuxième Fascicule. Facsimile 1976. Editions Sciences Nat, Paris; 76 pp.

TURNER, A.J. 1922. Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. Saturniidae, Bombycidae,

Eupterotidae, Notodontidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 47: 348-

390.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 65-66 65

A NOTE ON THREE UNUSUAL SPECIES OF PHYTALMIINAE

(DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE) FROM PAPUA NEW GUINEA

D.L. HANCOCK

PO Box 2464, Cairns, Qld 4870

Abstract

Robertsomyia paradoxa Hardy is transferred back to the Tephritidae from the Platystomatidae

and placed in the Sophira complex, while Stymbara vagaria Walker is transferred from the

Sophira complex to the Acanthonevra subgroup of genera (both in the Acanthonevra group of

genera in tribe Acanthonevrini). Tanaodema porrecta Hardy, originally placed in tribe Trypetini

(subfamily Trypetinae) is placed in the Epacrocerus group in tribe Epacrocerini.

Introduction

Robertsomyia paradoxa Hardy, Stymbara vagaria Walker and Tanaodema

porrecta Hardy are three unusual fruit fly species found in Papua New

Guinea (Hardy 1983, 1987, 1988). Their systematic relationships have been

uncertain. R. paradoxa was originally placed in tribe Phytalmiini (Hardy

1987) and transferred to family Platystomatidae by Hancock and Drew

(2003) but this was incorrect (D.K. McAlpine, pers. comm.). S. vagaria was

placed in the Sophira complex of genera in tribe Acanthonevrini by Hancock

and Drew (2003). T. porrecta was originally placed in subfamily Trypetinae,

tribe Trypetini (Hardy 1987) and provisionally transferred to subfamily

Tephritinae by Hancock (1991).

Robertsomyia paradoxa Hardy

As noted by McAlpine (2001, pers. comm.), the break in the costa above the

tip of vein Sc is a distinguishing character separating the Tephritidae from the

Platystomatidae. Given insufficient weight by Hancock and Drew (2003), its

presence excludes R. paradoxa from the latter family. While it does appear to

belong in subfamily Phytalmiinae, the widely forked vanes of the

phallapodeme [= aedeagal apodeme] exclude it from tribes Phytalmiini and

Phascini (and also from the unplaced Polyara group of genera), in which the

vanes are largely fused into an inverted Y-shaped structure.

The vanes of the phallapodeme are also widely forked in the Sophira

complex in tribe Acanthonevrini; other characters of R. paradoxa, including

its reduced chaetotaxy and biology, are also consistent with this complex.

Accordingly, Robertsomyia Hardy is added to the New Guinea-Pacific genera

previously placed in the Sophira complex of the Acanthonevra group of

genera by Hancock and Drew (2003). The complete absence of head and

thoracic setae and the tuberculate scutellum are characters unique to

Robertsomyia within the family. The elongate, apically convex, non-lobate

wing cell bcu and sclerotised metathoracic postcoxal bridge resemble those

seen in Adramoides Hardy from southern Thailand.

Larvae of R. paradoxa breed in living stems of Bambusa sp. (Poaceae:

Bambusoideae) (Hardy 1983).

66 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Stymbara vagaria Walker

The presence of some yellow setae on the head, the wrinkled preglans area of

the distiphallus and the shape of the phallapodeme, hypandrium, epandrium

and surstylus (Hardy 1988) clearly ally Stymbara Walker with Cribrorioxa

Hering, Ectopomyia Hardy, Hexacinia Hendel and Rioxa Walker in the

Acanthonevra subgroup of genera, to which it is transferred.

Tanaodema porrecta Hardy

The presence of a break in the costa above the tip of vein Sc and a distinct

katepisternal seta (D.K. McAlpine, pers. comm.) confirm the placement of T.

porrecta in the Tephritidae. The shape of both the face and the antenna, with

its second segment expanded on its inner margin, suggest a relationship with

the Epacrocerus group of genera (tribe Epacrocerini) (Hardy 1987, D.K.

McAlpine, pers. comm.), in which some genera also show a peculiarly

modified head, although to a much lesser extent (Hardy 1982). The presence

of a blunt apex to wing cell bcu and the placement of the dorsocentral setae

anterior to the line of the supra-alar setae support this suggestion. Tanaodema

Hardy is therefore added to the genera placed in tribe Epacrocerini by

Hancock and Drew (2003). It is characterised by a remarkably elongate head

with no frontal setae, 2 pairs of orbital setae and the eye situated medially,

porrect antennae with the second and third segments almost circular in shape

and the arista almost bare, 2 scutellar setae and narrow wings with no distinct

costal seta above the tip of vein Sc and a narrow, elongate pterostigma.

Acknowledgement j

I am grateful to David McAlpine (Australian Museum, Sydney) for his

perceptive comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

References

HANCOCK, D.L. 1991. Revised tribal classification of various genera of Trypetinae and

Ceratitinae, and the description of a new species of Taomyia Bezzi (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 54(2): 121-128.

HANCOCK, D.L. and DREW, R.A.I. 2003. New species and records of Phytalmiinae (Diptera:

Tephritidae) from Australia and the South Pacific. Australian Entomologist 30(2): 65-78.

HARDY, D.E. 1982. The Epacrocerus complex of genera in New Guinea (Diptera: Tephritidae:

Acanthonevrini). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington 10: 78-92.

HARDY, D.E. 1983. Robertsomyia an aberrant new genus of Phytalmiini from Papua New

Guinea (Tephritidae: Diptera). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 24: 227-231.

HARDY, D.E. 1987. The Trypetini, Aciurini and Ceratitini of Indonesia, New Guinea and

adjacent islands of the Bismarcks and Solomons (Diptera: Tephritidae: Trypetinae).

Entomography 5: 247-373.

HARDY, D.E. 1988. Fruit flies of the subtribe Gastrozonina of Indonesia, New Guinea and the

Bismarck and Solomon Islands (Diptera, Tephritidae, Trypetinae, Acanthonevrini). Zoologica

Scripta 17: 77-121,

McALPINE, D.K. 2001. Review of Australasian genera of signal flies (Diptera:

Platystomatidae). Records of the Australian Museum 53(2): 113-199.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 67-77 67

VARIATION IN POPULATION DENSITY OF CICADAS

(HEMIPTERA: CICADIDAE) IN THE SYDNEY REGION:

PSALTODA MOERENS (GERMAR), THOPHA SACCATA

(FABRICIUS) AND THE ‘SPRETA’ FORM OF CYCLOCHILA

AUSTRALASIAE (DONOVAN)

GEOFF S. HUMPHREYS

Division of Environmental and Life Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109

Abstract

Various sampling strategies were assessed to estimate the population density of emerging

nymphs/adult cicadas for three non-periodic species in the Sydney region: Cyclochila

australasiae (Donovan), Psaltoda moerens (Germar) and Thopha saccata (Fabricius). Densities

for all three species under dry sclerophyll woodland to forest are likely to be 0.5-2/m’. Density

increases as the vegetation becomes more mesic to 2-5/m? under rainforest for C. australasiae.

These densities are similar to other non-periodic species but low when compared with the

periodical cicadas, especially Magicicada septendecim (Linnaeus) and M. cassini (Fisher), of

eastern USA. Because of the possible loss of nymphs to predation and dispersion, the most

reliable estimates of population density are counts based on emergence burrows. In contrast,

counts based on careful searches of exuviae yielded as little as 40% of the burrow count.

Introduction

As part of a longer term study on the effect of soil-transporting fauna on soil

formation in the Sydney region of New South Wales, an attempt has been

made to measure the amount of soil displaced within the soil and onto the

surface (e.g. Humphreys 1989, 1994). However, this project has been

hampered by a lack of information on the basic ecology of various soil

animals. This certainly applies to cicadas, where the below ground activities

are known in general terms only (e.g. Moulds 1990) and the full life cycle has

yet to be determined for any Australian cicada species.

In particular, there is little information on population density, which is

required to estimate rates of bioturbation. A similar situation occurs for most

cicada species globally and it has only been in the last decade that reasonable

information on densities of non-periodical cicadas from a wide range of

environments has become available (Dean and Milton 1991, Ewart 2001,

Paterson et al. 1997, White and Sedcole 1993), although Young (1972, 1975,

1984) had reported earlier on several central American species.

The primary purpose of this paper is to report on estimates of cicada

populations at three sites in the Sydney region. Data from two of these sites

were obtained more than 20 years ago but have not been published before,

although the estimated rates of soil displacement have appeared in summary

tables provided by Humphreys and Mitchell (1983) and Paton et al. (1995).

More recent data have been obtained from the third site. By sampling along

an environmental gradient this site provided an opportunity to explore

whether or not population density changed with vegetation from drier to

moister communities.

68 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

A final issue to be considered is the method of estimating populations, which

is based mainly on counts of exuviae, adults or emergence holes (termed

burrows in this paper), although acoustic methods have been tried also (e.g.

Paterson et al. 1997). To date, the reliability of these methods of counting has

not been fully assessed, although there is an obvious need for this since

collection of exuviae is largely non-invasive and, hence, a preferred approach

in many situations. In contrast, a search for burrows may necessitate site

disturbance such as the removal of litter, vegetation and the upper soil layer.

Study sites

The Cattai site, 39 km NW of Sydney, is positioned on the western margin of

the Hornsby Plateau at an altitude of 100-120 m a.s.l and receives an average

annual rainfall of 900-1000 mm. Glenorie, 5 km to the east, receives an

average of 929 mm. A micaceous unit of the Hawkesbury Sandstone gives

rise to a Yellow Podzolic (Stace ef al. 1968: see Table 1 for other soil

classifications) on the area examined for cicadas. The natural vegetation

consists of dry sclerophyll open forest of Angophora bakeri, Corymbia

eximia, C. gummifera, Eucalyptus punctata, E. sparsifolia and Syncarpia

glomulifera, with a shrub understorey of Leptospermum attentuatum and

species of Acacia, Grevillea, Hakea and Persoonia.

The Cordeaux site, 64 km SW of Sydney, lies on the Woronora Plateau at an

altitude of 320-340 m a.s.l and receives an average annual rainfall of 950-

1000 mm. A quartose unit of the Hawkesbury Sandstone gives rise to Earthy

Sands and Lithosols. The natural vegetation consists of a dry sclerophyll

open forest of Corymbia gummifera, Eucalyptus globoidea, E. sclerophylla

and £. sieberi, with a shrub understorey of Leptospermum attentuatum and

species of Banksia, Hakea, Isopogon, Lambertia, Lomatia and Persoonia.

Table 1. Soil classification.

Site Australian soil classifications American

Great Soil Group! Factual Key new Australian? Soil Taxonomy*

Cattai Yellow Podzolic Dy2.41 Yellow Chromosol Haplohumult

Cordeaux Earthy Sand Uc5.22 Orthic Tenosol Dystrustept

Mt Wilson:

RF & WSF Krasnozem Gn3.11 Red Ferrosol Hapludox

DSF i Gn3.21 Brown Ferrosol fs

'Stace et al. 1968; "Northcote 1979; *Isbell 1996; *Soil Survey Staff 1998.

The Mt Wilson site, 87 km WNW of Sydney, is a hill top at 980 m a.s.l. to

the east of an expanse of cleared basalt terrain in the Blue Mountains. Three

vegetation communities were sampled: a wet sclerophyll, tall open forest

(WSF) on the summit; closed rainforest (RF) on the southern slope 100 m

from the summit; and dry sclerophyll open forest (DSF) on the northwestern

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 69

slope, also 100 m from the summit. The DSF had a tree stratum of

Eucalyptus fastigata and Acacia penninervis, with a shrub layer of Lomatia

and Daviesia. The WSF had an upper tree stratum of Eucalyptus blaxlandii

and £. viminalis and a lower tree stratum of A. penninervis, Hedycarpa

angustifolia and the tree fern Cyathea australis. The RF had a tree stratum of

Acacia melanoxylon, Ceratapetallum apetalum, Doryphora sassafras,

Eucalyptus blaxandii, Pittosporum undulatum and Quintinia sieberi. The tree

fern, Dicksonia antarctica, was conspicuous at the site. A deep, reddish

Krasnozem soil, developed on Tertiary basalt, occurred at the first two

communities. On the drier site basaltic colluvium overlayed a shale band,

possibly a thin remnant of Triassic Wianamatta Group. The nearest long term

rainfall records are from Bilpin (14 km to the east) and Mt Victoria (14 km to

the southwest), which average about 1459 and 1019 mm respectively. A 26

year rainfall record at Mt Wilson in the early 1900s provided a mean of 1168

mm (McLuckie and Petrie 1927). At all sites the dry sclerophyll forest is

particularly fire prone but this effect decreases where the vegetation becomes

more mesic.

Identification

Cicada samples from Cattai and Cordeaux were identified by staff at the

Australian Museum in 1979. They consisted of the Redeye, Psaltoda

moerens (Germar) and the Double Drummer, Thopha saccata (Fabricius),

from Cattai and Cordeaux respectively. Specimens from Mt Wilson were

collected in November and December 2002 and identified by the author as

the Masked Devil or ‘spreta’ form of Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan),

using the descriptions of Goding and Froggatt (1904) and Moulds (1990).

These specimens displayed a black abdomen, a tan thorax and head with

distinct black markings, including a transverse black bar joining the eyes and

a longitudinal black line down the centre of the pronotum and mesonotum

(dorsal view) but not across the intervening segment of the pronotal collar.

Length of the forewing ranged from 50.5 to 56 mm (n=10, mean 53.5). One

example of the yellow form (Yellow Monday) was also found. The ratio of

male to female nymphs was 0.91 (n=189), which is similar to many other

cicada species in Australia (e.g. Ewart 2001) and elsewhere (e.g. Young

1975, 1980; White et al. 1979).

Methods

Different approaches were adopted to estimate cicada populations. Nymphal

exuviae were counted from 10 x 10 m quadrats at Cattai (n=4) and Mt Wilson

(n=3). This plot size was selected to match the scale of apparent homogeneity

at the site, based on a combination of soil variability and the associated

vegetation. Four quadrats were placed side by side around a soil pit at Cattai

and the exuviae collected from tree trunks and within a 2 m radius of larger

trees, on 26 January 1979. At Mt Wilson (on 31 December 2002) the three

quadrats sampled different vegetation types and were positioned adjacent to

70 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

existing soil pits. This sampling period was at the end of the period of

emergence at this site.

The ‘spreta’ form of C. australasiae was first noted at Mt Wilson and on Mt

Banks, another basalt cap just to the south, on 28 September 2002.

Subsequent visits to Mt Wilson indicated that this species was numerous

throughout November and early December. The period of emergence is

earlier than that found for C. australasiae around Armidale (Coombs 1996).

Unlike the Cattai site, however, a systematic search was conducted among

shrubs and the litter layer as well as on tree trunks.

Twenty 5 x 1 m quadrats were used at Cordeaux to record the number of dead

adults between December 1978 and March 1979. These were the same

quadrats used to monitor ant and earthworm activity on a monthly basis

between July 1978 and July 1979 (Humphreys 1981). In addition, the number

of nymphal burrows was recorded from seven soil pits dispersed over a

hectare at Cattai and excavated in early 1979. These pits amounted to a

surface area of 10.8 m^. In order to assess the apparent accuracy of the

exuviae counts at Mt Wilson, five random 1 m° plots from each of the 10 x

10 m quadrats were carefully searched for additional exuviae and cicada

burrows on 13-14 February 2003. These random plots were cleared of ground

cover and the soil was carefully scraped away to expose burrows.

Results and discussion

Population estimates based on large quadrat counts

Estimating the population density of cicadas at a site has proved not to be

straightforward (Tables 2 and 3). The small sample size, lack of replication

and differences in methodology are obvious deficiencies. Even though the 10

x 10 m plot size was selected to match the scale of apparent homogeneity at

the site, it became apparent that the distribution of exuviae was not always

random. Under RF at Mt Wilson there was some clustering of exuviae on and

around the base of a large red stringy-bark (Eucalyptus blaxlandii), whereas

under WSF and DSF the exuviae seemed to be randomly dispersed, even

though each plot contained at least one large tree. At Cattai the four quadrats

yielded counts of 0, 2, 8 and 12 and at Cordeaux the 20 smaller quadrats

provided total counts from 0 to 3 (7 plots of 0, 7 of 1, 4 of 2 and 2 of 3).

Similar variation has been reported in other studies. Thus, 20 random plots in

a woodland of brood II of the periodical cicada Magicicada septendecim

(Linnaeus) provided a range of densities of 0.7 to 56.7 m°, with a mean of

5.0 m° (Dybas and Lloyd 1974). In non- periodical species in the arid Karoo

of South Africa, twelve 5 x 5 m plots along a drainage line yielded densities

of 9-62 and 2-31 away from the drainage lines (means of 21.9 and 15.2

respectively) (Dean and Milton 1991). In a study in southeast Queensland,

10% of the sample sites contained no exuviae (Ewart 2001). In comparison,

the neotropical cicada Procollina biolleyi is reported to be uniformly

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 71

distributed in a humid montane forest site in Costa Rica away from trail

edges. In contrast, a less numerous and smaller species at the same site,

Carinetta spinocosta, exhibited a patchy distribution (Young 1975), although

no data were provided to quantify this. However, in a subsequent study

involving a lowland species, Zammara smaragdina, considerable spatial

variation in density was noted, with individual plots varying by an order of

magnitude or more in seven of the ten sampling dates (Young 1980). Young

(1980) also noted that about 15% of the total population came from one of 23

plots and that some of these other plots yielded counts of <0.5%.

Table 2. Population estimates at Cattai and Cordeaux in dry sclerophyll vegetation.

Site Plots Species Total plot Sample type Density

area (m°) (n/ 100 mô)

Cattai A-D Psaltoda moerens 400 exuviae 5.5

Cattai soil pits* Psaltoda moerens 10.8 burrows 148

Cordeaux A-T Thopha saccata 100 adults 21

* in addition there was one trapdoor spider burrow.

Table 3. Population estimates of C. australasiae at Mt Wilson.

Parameter Density per ha under different vegetation

types (n/100 m°)

Dry Wet Rainforest

sclerophyll sclerophyll

(a) No. of exuviae in 10x10 m plot 11 73 106

(b) No. of additional exuviae from 1x1m plots* 40 100 80

(d) No. of burrows from 1x1m plots* 80 160 460

(e) Proportion of total exuviae to burrows 63.8% 108.1% 40.4%

[=100 (c)/ (d)]

Estimated population 50-100 150-200 200-500

*scaled to 100 m’.

Population estimates based on exuviae compared with burrows

There is also a pronounced difference between exuviae and burrow counts.

This was greatest at Cattai, where the burrow count exceeded the exuviae

count by a factor of 25 (148 v. 5.5 per 100 m°, Table 2). Apart from possible

loss by predation (see below), this difference might be attributed to one or

more reasons. Firstly, the exuviae count was confined to the larger trees only

and ignored the surrounding understorey. Secondly, the soil pits may have

been biased to sites of unusually higher density, though there is no obvious

reason that this should be so. Thirdly, the burrows may include nymphs other

than the last instar. However, as most of the burrows contained a sizable

72 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

nymph it indicates that they were mostly at the final instar stage.

Furthermore, it is thought that most burrowing takes place during the final

instar phase and within a few months of ecdyis, as demonstrated for the

periodical cicada (Cory and Knight 1937). Thus, even if it is assumed that

only half of the burrows contained final instar nymphs, the density is still

much higher than exuviae counts suggest. It was partly this discrepancy

between exuviae and burrow counts at Cattai that lead to the sampling regime

pursued at Mt Wilson. Nevertheless, the results at Mt Wilson also established

that burrow count exceeded the initial exuviae count but by a reduced level of

between 1.6 and 5.8 (Table 3, row ‘d’ to ‘b’), which was further reduced to

<2.5 for the total exuviae count (Table 3, row ‘d’ to ‘c’), although on the wet

sclerophyll plot the exuviae count slightly exceeded the burrow count.

A similar degree of variation between exuviae and burrow counts was

reported by Strandine (1940) for the periodical cicada. Nevertheless, the

reduction in the discrepancy still leaves a sizable difference in density. It

would seem that the type of exuviae count undertaken in the present study

provides a moderately accurate estimate of the probable nymphal population

that is correct at the order of magnitude level and that small plots, stripped of

ground cover and litter, yield a better estimate than is obtained from

searching larger plots where the vegetation cover is left undisturbed. Thus, at

Mt Wilson the total exuviae count estimated 40->100% of the burrow count

(Table 3, row ‘e’) but for the initial exuviae count the estimate was only 13 to

46% (Table 3, row ‘a’ to ‘e’). Unfortunately, the variation exhibited between

the three vegetation types is not conducive to determining realistic correction

factors. Perhaps the most reliable method is to use cages to catch emerging

nymphs (e.g. Young 1980) but this approach requires monitoring at frequent

intervals and may not be suited to remote sites.

A possible reason for the discrepancy between exuviae and burrow counts is

predation, for it is well known that emerging nymphs and adults are eaten by

birds (e.g. Young 1984, Ewart 2001). For example, the population count at

the Cordeaux site consisted of dismembered adults of Thopha saccata, of

which the abdomen appears to have been the main food item. In North

America there are several reports describing the voracious appetites of birds

feeding on emerging and adult periodical cicadas, so much so that for periods

of up to several weeks all cicadas may be consumed (Beamer 1931, Lloyd

and Dybas 1966). In addition, it is possible that exuviae are dispersed by

wind and rain and therefore removed from the sample plot. Nevertheless, loss

from one plot must lead to gain elsewhere and hence if an adequate sample

size is employed this effect should balance out, although it may explain some

of the variation in counts between individual plots.

Comparison of population density and periodicity

Because of these differences and unresolved issues, the population density at

Mt Wilson is expressed as a range of 0.5-1 m° under dry sclerophyll

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 73

vegetation, 1-2 m? under wet sclerophyll and 2-5 m° under rainforest. At

Cattai the density of Psaltoda moerens was probably around 1-2 m°, whereas

the Thopha saccata data are insufficient to suggest a realistic estimate. These

densities are very low in comparison to the well studied periodical cicadas,

which commonly attain densities >10 m° and sometimes >100 m` (e.g.

Dybas and Davis 1962, White et al. 1979), although in some cases the

densities were much lower even at sites which are considered to contain high

populations (e.g. Dybas and Lloyd 1974). Nevertheless, large population

densities attained by Magicicada spp. are thought to be in part a product of

behavioural passiveness, whereby adults make no attempt to avoid predators

or capture.

Population densities of other non-periodical cicadas in North America are

thought to be much smaller (Beamer 1931, Lloyd and Dybas 1966), which

would make them similar to the three Sydney species considered in this study

and to other non-periodical cicadas from a wide range of environments where

densities are typically <1 to 5 m? (Table 4). An exception to this was the

average density of 10.6 m° recorded in 1973 for Procollina biolleyi in the

highlands of Costa Rica, which contrasts with other neotropical species

which are mostly <3 m’ ? (Young 1975, 1980). The high population density by

a non-periodical species may imply causal factors other than the predator-

prey explanation noted above.

Although less well studied, non-periodical cicadas appear to exhibit some

level of emergence each year, usually in a preferred season but with higher

numbers appearing every few to several years. This seems to apply to larger

taxa, at least, and implies the existence of an emergence and survival strategy

different from the periodical cicadas, with their well recognised and very

predictable 13 or 17 year broods. However, although a degree of periodicity

occurs in at least some non-periodic taxa, the fact that it has rarely been

demonstrated may indicate that the pattern, if it exists, is somewhat irregular.

For the three Sydney species examined in this study the degree of periodicity

is not known with any certainty, although it is thought that Cyclochila

australasiae has a 6-7 year cycle (Moulds 1990). This could reflect a partial

influence of ENSO (El niño - Southern Oscillation quasi-periodic climate

cycle) events in which lower survival in drought years is expected, especially

if fire occurs in the period just after eggs are laid. Detailed analysis of the

Southern Oscillation indicates a strong periodicity of 6 years with weaker 3,

3.8 and 10-12 year cycles in Australia (Burrows 1992). In Southern Africa

the strongest ENSO periodicity is about 18 years, which is similar to the

period between the last two recorded emergences of Quitillia cf. conspersa in

c. 1972-3 and 1988-9 (Dean and Milton 1991). This climatic link does not

easily apply to the periodical cicada as there are no known 13 or 17 year

climatic cycles (Burrows 1992) and because different broods, although

operating at 13 or 17 years, exist in different calendar year cycles.

74 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Table 4. Comparison of non-periodical cicada population estimates (quoted on a

hectare basis as is common in international literature).

Location and environment Species Mean [and Variation] Refer-

(No/ ha) ence

Karoo, Southern Africa; Quintillia cf. conspera 7,400 [se 1,036] 1

arid shrubland

New Zealand; sub-alpine Guild of 6 species 10,100 [range: 865-20,000] 2

Arizona; riparian zone in Diceroprocta apache 50,000 [range: 7,000- 3

arid setting 118,000]

Tuscany; Mediterranean Cicada orni 33,660 [se=5,285] 4

pine forest & olive grove 13,201 [se=3,551]

SE Queensland; humid Psaltoda plaga, P. 8,370 [nd] 5

sub-tropical; coastal WSF claripennis & 4 others

Costa Rica; humid tropics; Procollina biolleyi 105,800 [nd, but var] 6

secondary montane RF

Costa Rica; humid tropics; Fidicina sericans 93,000 [nd, var] 7

lowland RF F. spinocosta 15,000 [nd,var]

Zammara smaragdina 11,700 [8,000-17,300]

Cattai, Sydney; humid Psaltoda moerens 550 [range: 0-1,200] 8

temperate; DSF 14,800 [nd]

Cordeaux, Sydney; humid Thopha saccata 2,100 [range: 0-6,000] 8

temperate; DSF

Mt Wilson, Blue Mts; Cyclochila 8,000 [5,000-10,000]* 8

humid temperate; DSF, australasiae 16,000 [15,000-20,000]*

WSF and RF respectively

46,000 [20,000-50,000]*

'Dean and Milton 1991; ?White and Sedcole 1993, using unadjusted density figures

(see Lane 1993); 7Andersen 1994; ‘Patterson et al. 1997; “Ewart 2001; Young 1975;

Young 1980; *this paper. se = standard error; nd = not determined; var = variable; * =

estimate (see text).

Population variation along an environmental gradient

There was a noticeable increase in density of C. australasiae with the

moisture status of the vegetation at Mt Wilson, i.e. from dry sclerophyll to

wet sclerophyll and thence rainforest. This trend was apparent regardless of

the measure used, i.e. initial exuviae count, corrected exuviae count or

burrow count (Table 3, rows (a), (c) and (d) respectively). This result implies

that habitat differences exert a strong influence on population density. The

strength of this relationship was tested on the best quality data at this site, viz.

the burrow densities. The burrow data satisfied the Ryner-Joiner test for

normality (R: 0.9851, P >0.1000) and the Bartlets test for homogeneity (P-

value 0.895) and thus indicated an adequate sample size. Based on one-way

ANOVAs and Fisher pair-wise test, the burrow density in the RF was

significantly different from both the WSF (P=0.018) and DSF (P= 0.004) but

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 75

the latter two could not be separated (P=0.397), despite the mean of the WSF

being twice that of the DSF site. Presumably the rainforest provides a better

or more stable habitat in terms of maintaining food supply and/or a reduced

impact from predators. If Australian cicada species are xylem feeders, as

demonstrated for the periodical cicadas (White and Strehl 1978), a habitat

less affected by dry conditions and therefore pronounced water stress on

plants, may favour survival of nymphs and therefore yield greater

populations. It is noteworthy that the sampling at Mt Wilson occurred during

a prolonged drought (late 2002) but, even so, the clayey soil at both the wet

sclerophyll and rainforest communities, which contained large earthworms

(5-8 mm diameter and 200-300 mm long), was much moister than at the dry

sclerophyll site. Whether or not it is moisture availability and hence greater

plant vigour that is significant or some other factor remains to be evaluated.

Young (1984) suggested a strong cicada - legume tree host association in the

humid neotropics on the assumption that the xylem fluid from legumes was

more nutritious than other host trees. As Young (1984) noted, the same might

apply to trees with micorrhizal associations and this raises a tantalising

prospect in Australia, as many eucalypts and closely related genera possess

micorrhiza.

It is interesting to note that similar population densities occured under the

same vegetation structural type and when the same type of measure was

applied, despite different species and locations. This is evident in the general

survey under dry sclerophyll forest, where densities of 5.5, 11 and 21/100m”

occurred at Cattai, Mt Wilson and Cordeaux respectively (Tables 2 and 3). Of

the three species considered, Thopha saccata is the largest cicada in Australia

and the other two species fall within the large size group for Australian taxa.

Thus it seems that a similar habitat, which in this case is a dry sclerophyll

forest, may exert a similar set of constraints on cicada populations, although

this may be conditional on species of similar size being compared. This

assumes, of course, that the three species were studied at the same life stage,

i.e. at peak emergence. Whether or not this was the case is uncertain except to

note that the attempts to record population in the 1978-79 summer (Cattai and

Cordeaux) and the 2001-02 summer (Mt Wilson) were prompted by the

observation that cicada activity was particularly pronounced on those

occasions.

Conclusions

Population densities for three large cicada species in the Sydney region were

estimated to be 0.5-2/m? under dry sclerophyll forest at three different

locations. An increase in density was shown for one species, C. australasiae,

as the vegetation assumed a more mesic character, reaching 2-5/m? under

rainforest. These densities were similar to many other non-periodic species

but up to one or two orders of magnitude less than those reported for the

periodical cicadas in North America.

76 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Of the methods used for estimating population density counts, burrows gave

the highest values and, hence, were considered to be most reliable. However,

when this option is not feasible, such as when disturbance of the litter layer or

surface soil is not desired, a count based on exuviae provided an estimate that

was at least 40% of the burrow count.

Acknowledgements

I thank staff at the Australian Museum in Sydney, especially Mr G.

Holloway, for identifying various specimens, Ben Harrington for the

vegetation description at Mt Wilson and Dr R. Michael Bourke and William

Humphreys for assisting in the exuviae count at Mt Wilson. The work at Mt

Wilson was conducted under licence with NSW National Parks & Wildlife

Service (Scientific Investigation Licence A3007). Earlier work at Cordeaux

was conducted with permission of the former Metropolitan Water, Sewage

and Drainage Board, whose relevant functions are now under the Sydney

Catchment Authority. The helpful comments from two referees are gratefully

acknowledged.

References

ANDERSEN, D.C. 1994. Are cicadas (Diceroprocta apache) both a “keystone” and a “critical-

link” species in lower Colorado riparian communities? Southwestern Naturalist 39: 26-33.

BEAMER, R.H. 1931. Notes on the 17-year cicada in Kansas. Kansas Entomological Society 4:

53-58.

BURROWS, W.J. 1992. Weather cycles real or imaginary? Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge; 210 pp.

COOMBS, M. 1996. Seasonality of cicadas (Hemiptera) on the Northern Tablelands of New

South Wales. Australian Entomologist 23: 55-60.

CORY, E.N. and KNIGHT, P. 1937. Observations on brood X of the periodical cicada in

Maryland. Journal of Economic Entomology 30: 287-294.

DEAN, W.R.J. and MILTON, S.J. 1991. Emergence and oviposition of Quintillia cf. conspersa

Karsch (Homoptera: Cicadidae) in the southern Karoo, South Africa. Journal of the

Entomological Society of Southern Africa 54: 111-119.

DYBAS, H.S. and DAVIS, D.D. 1962. A population census of seventeen-year periodical cicadas

(Homoptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada). Ecology 43: 432-444.

DYBAS, H.S. and LLOYD, M. 1974. The habitats of 17-year periodical cicadas (Homoptera:

Cicadidae: Magicicada spp.). Ecological Monographs 44: 279-324.

EWART, A. 2001. Emergence patterns and densities of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) near

Caloundra, south-east Queensland. Australian Entomologist 28: 69-84.

GODING, F.W. and FROGGATT, W.W. 1904. Monograph of the Australian Cicadidae.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 29: 561-670.

HUMPHREYS, G.S. 1981. The rate of ant mounding and earthworm casting near Sydney, New

South Wales. Search 12: 129-131.

HUMPHREYS, G.S. 1989. Earthen structures built by nymphs of the cicada, Cyclochila

australasiae (Donovan) (Homoptera, Cicadidae). Australian Entomological Magazine 16: 99-

108.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 7A

HUMPHREYS, G.S. 1994. Bioturbation, biofabrics and the biomantle. Pp 421-436, in:

Ringrose-Voase, A.J. and Humphreys, G.S. (eds), Soil micromorphology: studies in GST

and genesis. Elsevier, Amsterdam; 896 pp.

HUMPHREYS, G.S. and MITCHELL, P.B. 1983. A preliminary assessment of the role of

bioturbation and rainwash on sandstone hillslopes in the Sydney Basin. Pp 66-80, in: Young,

R.W. and Nanson, G.C. (eds), Aspects of Australian sandstone landscapes. Australian and New

Zealand Geomorphology Group Special Publication No. 1; 126 pp.

ISBELL, R.F. 1996. The Australian soil classification. CSIRO, Australia; 143 pp.

LANE, D.H. 1993. Can flawed statistics be a substitute for real biology? New Zealand Journal of

Zoology 20: 51-59.

LLOYD, M. and DYBAS, H.S. 1966. The periodical cicada problem. II. Evolution. Evolution

20: 466-505.

McLUCKIE, M.A. and PETRIE, A.H.K. 1927. An ecological study of the flora of Mount

Wilson. Part IV. Habitat factors and plant response. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New

South Wales 52: 161-184.

MOULDS, M.S. 1990. Australian cicadas. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney; 217

pp.

NORTHCOTE, K.H. 1979. A factual key for the recognition of Australian soils. 4th Edition.

Rellim Publications, Adelaide; 123 pp.

PATON, T.R., HUMPHREYS, G.S. and MITCHELL, P.B. 1995. Soils: a new global view.

University College London Press, London; 213 pp.

PATTERSON, I..J., MASSEI, G. and GENOV, P. 1997. The density of cicadas Cicada orni in

Mediterranean coastal habitats. /talian Journal of Zoology 64: 141-146.

STRANDINE, E.J. 1940. A quantitative study of the periodical cicada with respect to soil of

three forests. American Midland Naturalist 24: 177-183.

STACE, H.C.T., HUBBLE, G.D., BREWER, R., NORTHCOTE, K.H., SLEEMAN, J.R.,

MULCAHY, M.J. and HALLSWORTH, E.C. 1968. 4 handbook of Australian soils. Rellim

Technical Publications, Glenside; 435 pp.

SOIL SURVEY STAFF. 1998. Keys to soil taxonomy. 8th Edition. United States Department of

Agriculture, Washington D.C. 326 pp.

WHITE, E.G. and SEDCOLE, J.R. 1993. A study of the abundance and patchiness of cicada

nymphs (Homoptera: Tibicinidae) in a New Zealand subalpine shrub-grassland. New Zealand

Journal of Zoology 20: 38-51.

WHITE, J. and STREHL, C.E. 1978. Xylem feeding by periodical cicada nymphs on tree roots.

Ecological Entomology 3: 323-327.

WHITE, J., LLOYD, M. and ZAR, J.H. 1979. Faulty eclosion in crowded suburban periodical

cicadas: populations out of control. Ecology 60: 305-315.

YOUNG, A.M. 1975. The population biology of neotropical cicadas. 1. Emergences of

Procollina and Carineta in a mountain forest. Biotropica 7: 248-258.

YOUNG, A.M. 1980. Environmental partitioning in lowland tropical rainforest cicadas. Journal

of the New York Entomological Society 88: 86-101.

YOUNG, A.M. 1984. The evolution of cicada x host-tree associations in Central America. Acta

Biotheoretica 33: 163-198.

78 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

The following notes on new butterfly distribution and food plant records are

abstracted from the News Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Queensland and

were first published during 2004 in the volume and parts indicated.

Acraea andromacha andromacha (Fabricius) [Nymphalidae] - The role of Hybanthus

spp. (Violaceae) as food plants for this species in SE Qld has not been well

documented. In February 2004, in the western suburbs of Brisbane, larvae were

observed near the ground in large numbers, defoliating H. stellarioides (Domin) P.J.

Forst., during periods when this herbaceous plant was flowering after periods of rain.

In March 2004, at Wondul Range National Park, adults were abundant in the apparent

absence of Passiflora spp. (Passifloraceae). One female was observed ovipositing on

H. monopeltatus (Shult.) Domin. These observations suggest that the use of

Hybanthus spp. as food plants is more widespread than previously recorded and may

explain the occurrence of A. andromacha in areas where Passifloraceae vines are

scarce or absent. - Little known foodplants of the ‘glasswing’ Acraea andromacha

andromacha (Fabricius) - Don Sands - 32(2): 43-44 (2004).

Heteronympha_ mirifica (Butler) [Nymphalidae] - Numerous specimens were

identified between Tewantin and Boreen Point and near Pomona in SE Qld between

Nov. 2003 and May 2004. Known previously south of the Bunya Mts and Eumundi,

these records provide new northernmost coastal localities. - Interesting distribution

records of butterflies in south east Queensland - Russell Mayo - 32(3): 64-65 (2004).

Geitoneura acantha (Donovan) [Nymphalidae] - Numerous specimens were

encountered near Imbil and Pomona, SE Qld, in December 2003. These records

confirm its presence in the coastal areas north of Brisbane. - Interesting distribution

records of butterflies in south east Queensland - Russell Mayo - 32(3): 64-65 (2004).

Danaus affinis affinis (Fabricius) [Nymphalidae] - Regarded as a vagrant south of the

Richmond River in NE NSW, this species is well established at Laurieton and Forster

and is regularly encountered near the Hunter River, near Hexham, in suitable habitat.

Adults and early stages were located commonly in most months near Forster between

1999 and 2003 and at Laurieton on each of at least 10 visits over the past 20 years.

This suggests that the species is permanently established in central coastal NSW, at

least as far south as Forster and possibly the Hunter River. - Notes on the distribution

of Danaus affinis (Fabricius) - Russell Mayo - 32(4): 96 (2004).

Hypochrysops miskini Waterhouse [Lycaenidae] - At Eudlo, SE Qld, some larvae feed

on mature leaves of Smilax australis (Smilacaceae) but most use the canopy leaves of

Glochidion ferdinandi (Euphorbiaceae), a new food plant record. The larvae eat very

distinctive patches from the leaves of their food plant, first from the upper surface,

producing a spotted pattern, then from the under surface, leaving a patterned mosaic

that gradually skeletonises the leaf. Each larva is normally attended by 2 or 3

Anonychomyrma gilberti ants (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae). Larvae often eat during

daylight hours. When not eating, they remain hidden in bark or leaf litter where they

pupate singly or in groups. On the Sunshine Coast, the duration of the life cycle is

about 2 months, longer in winter when feeding may be suspended. Adults normally

fly high, at about 9-12 m, in the lower canopy. They usually emerge from pupae

around dawn. - A new food plant and biological notes for Hypochrysops miskini

(Lycaenidae) in south eastern Queensland - Andrew Atkins - 32(4): 96-98 (2004).

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 79-82 79

A NEW RECORD AND HOST ASSOCIATION FOR THE

PIGEONPEA POD FLY, MELANAGROMYZA OBTUSA (MALLOCH)

(DIPTERA: AGROMYZIDAE) AND NOTES ON ITS PARASITOIDS

IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

J.R. MAKINSON', J.A. GOOLSBY’, D.E. MEYERDIRK?, A.A. KIRK*

and C.J. BURWELL’

'CSIRO Entomology, Australian Biological Control Laboratory, 120 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly,

Old 4068. Email: Jeff:Makinson@csiro.au (corresponding author)

"USDA-ARS, Office of International Research Programs, Australian Biological Control

Laboratory, CSIRO Entomology, 120 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, Qld 4068

(current address: USDA-ARS, Kika de la Garza Subtropical Research Center, Beneficial Insects

Research Unit, 2413 E. Hwy 83, Weslaco, Texas 78596, USA)

USDA, APHIS, PPQ, 4700 River Rd, Unit 135, Riverdale, Maryland 20737, USA

“European Biological Control Laboratory, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34982

Montferriez sur Lez, France

*Biodiversity Program, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Bank, Qld 4101

Abstract

The pigeonpea pod fly, Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch), is recorded for the first time from the

Northern Territory. This is also the first time it has been found feeding on the native legume

Cajanus latisepalus (S.T. Reynolds & Pedley) Maesen and the first record of a host association

for M. obtusa in Australia. Two parasitoids, Callitula sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) and

Ormyrus sp. (Hymenoptera: Ormyridae) were reared from M. obtusa on C. latisepalus pods.

Introduction

The pigeonpea pod fly, Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch), is one of the most

damaging pests of pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. (Shanower et al.

1998). It is recorded as native to Australia (AICN 2004) and is also widely

distributed throughout Asia, from Japan and Pakistan to Papua New Guinea

(Shanower et al. 1998). M. obtusa is currently causing significant damage to

this important crop in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the

Dominican Republic. Surveys were conducted in the tropical savannah of the

Northern Territory in Australia to search for pod fly parasitoids to support a

biological control program in the Caribbean.

Materials and methods

Two surveys of the mature green and brown pods of Cajanus species native

to the Northern Territory were conducted in March and May 2004. These

surveys resulted in five collections of pods from C. cinereus (F. Muell. Ex

Benth.) F. Muell., five from C. marmoratus (R. Br. Ex Benth.) F. Muell., four

from C. latisepalus (S.T. Reynolds & Pedley) Maesen, four from C.

reticulatus (Dryander) F. Muell. and one each from C. acutifolius (F. Muell.

Ex Benth.) Maesen and C. scarabaeoides (L.) Thouars.

The pods collected in the surveys were shipped to quarantine facilities in

Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to isolate and rear parasitoids of M.

obtusa. Pods of all Cajanus species collected in March were shipped, while

80 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

only C. latisepalus pods were shipped following the May survey. Small

subsamples of most collections were retained at the Australian Biological

Control Laboratory (ABCL) in Brisbane, Queensland.

Before the May shipment, 180 brown C. /atisepalus pods from each of three

collection sites were randomly selected to assess the level of damage by M.

obtusa. The presence or absence of holes, similar to those formed by M.

obtusa, was recorded for each pod. In order to develop an understanding of

the biology of M. obtusa on C. latisepalus, 100 of the pods retained at ABCL

were dissected once emergence had ceased. Voucher specimens of M. obtusa

were forwarded to Don Colless for identification. Molecular sequencing of

the CO2 gene was used for genetic comparison of M. obtusa from the

Northern Territory and Puerto Rico.

Results

Melanagromyza obtusa was only reared from pods of C. /atisepalus. Genetic

comparison of pod flies collected from the Northern Territory with those

from Puerto Rico revealed about a 7% variation over a 450 base fragment of

the mitochondrial CO2 gene, likely representing population level differences

(unpublished data). Two species of hymenopteran parasitoids also emerged

from the C. /atisepalus pods retained at ABCL: Callitula sp. (Pteromalidae)

and Ormyrus sp. (Ormyridae).

During the May survey, all three collections of C. /atisepalus pods, from the

Meningen turnoff, Victoria Highway (15°27.92’S, 131°24.12’E), the

Escarpment Walk, Gregory National Park (15°36.45’S, 131°06.89’E) and

along the Buchanan Highway (15°56.50’S, 130°38.60’E), showed evidence

of M. obtusa attack. Emergence holes similar to those formed by M. obtusa

were observed in 56.1% of the pods from Meningen, 79.4% from the site

along the Buchanan Highway and 88.9% of pods from the Escarpment Walk

site. Not all exit holes were caused by M. obtusa as a single lepidopteran

adult was reared from C. /atisepalus pods kept at ABCL, although no larvae

were observed. Over the same period, 84 M. obtusa were reared from the

pods, suggesting that the pod fly accounted for the majority of damage

observed in these collections. Dissections of 157 C. latisepalus pods, all the

material retained at ABCL, revealed 124 with empty M. obtusa pupal cases.

Usually a single M. obtusa larva fed on both seeds within a pod, although

complete development on a single seed was observed.

Discussion

Cajanus latisepalus is a spreading shrub to 1 m high, with oblong pods of

about 1.7 x 0.8 cm in size, densely covered in soft unmatted pale hairs and

usually containing two seeds (Reynolds and Pedley 1981). It was the only

host of M. obtusa observed. Nine species of Cajanus are listed as endemic to

the Northern Territory (Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife 2003). The

present surveys failed to find evidence of pod fly damage on five of these

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 81

species: C. acutifolius, C. cinereus, C. marmoratus, C. reticulatus and C.

scarabaeoides. Three other species were not surveyed. In contrast, Shanower

et al. (1998) reported M. obtusa on six species of Cajanus in India.

In Australia, M. obtusa has only previously been recorded from Queensland

(AICN 2004). This is the first record from the Northern Territory.

Considering the number of M. obtusa found in our surveys, it seems likely

that it will occur throughout the native range of C. latisepalus, which is

centred on the tropical savannah around the northern border of the Northern

Territory and Western Australia. C. /atisepalus was not previously known as

a host for M. obtusa. Previous collections of M. obtusa in Queensland do not

list any host information (Don Colless, pers. comm.), so it is likely that this is

the first record of a host association for M. obtusa in Australia.

Of the two parasitoids reared from M. obtusa on C. latisepalus, Callitula sp.

is an unrecorded association. Species of Callitula are parasites of small

Diptera, especially Agromyzidae (Bouček 1988). Bouček (1988) reported

that, in tropical countries, the main hosts of Callitula seem to be leaf-mining

or stem-mining species on herbaceous plants. This is the first pteromalid

recorded from M. obtusa.

A single species of Ormyrus has been reared previously from M. obtusa: O.

orientalis (Walker) (Narendran 1999). Ormyrus fredricki Narendran &

Sumodan has also been recorded attacking M. obtusa (Narendran et al. 1990,

Shanower et al. 1998), but this species is now considered a junior synonym

of O. orientalis (Narendran 1999). Narendran (1999) recorded 11 species of

Ormyrus from Australia, although none are known from the Northern

Territory. The Ormyrus species reared in this study does not run to any of the

described Australian species in Narendran’s (1999) key.

The discovery of M. obtusa on C. latisepalus in the Northern Territory and

the collection of two parasitoids, extends knowledge of the native range and

natural enemies of the pigeonpea pod fly. More importantly, it provides a

potential source of new biological control agents for the management of M.

obtusa as a pest of pigeonpea in the Caribbean and possibly India.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank USDA-APHIS-IS for funding these surveys. We also

acknowledge Sally Dillon (Qld Department of Primary Industries, Biloela)

for suggesting the native Cajanus as possible pod fly hosts, and Bob

Harwood and Ian Cowie (NT Herbarium, Palmerston) for help with the

location and identification of the local species. Thanks also to Don Colless

(Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra) for identifying the

pod fly specimens and to Diana Hartley (CSIRO Entomology, Canberra) for

the genetic comparison. The authors wish to acknowledge Marc Coombs

(CSIRO Entomology) and Tom Shanower (USDA-ARS, Sidney, Montana)

for reviewing the manuscript and for their helpful comments.

82 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

References

AICN [AUSTRALIAN INSECT COMMON NAMES]. 2004. Melanagromyza obtusa

(Malloch). http:/Avww.ento.csiro.au/aicn/name_s/b_2169.htm

BOUCEK, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): a biosystematic revision of

genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International, Wallingford;

832 pp.

NARENDRAN, T.C. 1999. Indo-Australian Ormyridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea).

Zoological Monograph, Department of Zoology, University of Calicut; 227 pp.

NARENDRAN, T.C., ABDURAHIMAN, U.C. and SUMODAN, P.K. 1990. Two new species

of Ormyrus Westwood (Hymenoptera: Ormyridae) from India. Gerbios New Reports 9: 114-117.

NORTHERN TERRITORY PARKS AND WILDLIFE. 2003. Checklist of Northern Territory

vascular plant species. http://www.nt.gov.au/ipe/pwent/docs/NTChecklist_Jan_03.pdf

REYNOLDS, S.T. and PEDLEY, L. 1981. A revision of At/osia (Leguminosae) in Australia.

Austrobaileya 1(4): 420-428.

SHANOWER, T.G., LAL, S.S. and BHAGWAT, V.R. 1998. Biology and management of

Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch) (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Crop Protection 17(3): 249-263.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 83-92 83

MIGRATION OF TWO SPECIES OF PIERIDAE (LEPIDOPTERA:

PAPILIONOIDEA) INSOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA

M.F. BRABY

School of Botany and Zoology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200

Abstract

Observations on directional flight and distribution records of Appias paulina (Cramer) and

Catopsilia pomona (Fabricius) from southeastern Australia during late January and mid February

2004 are presented. The appearance of these otherwise tropical/subtropical species in the

southern temperate latitudes coincided with observations of a large scale southerly migration

recorded by several lepidopterists in southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South

Wales, 600-1200 km further NNE, and were almost certainly part of the same mass movement.

Climatic variables, particularly rainfall three months earlier following a severe dry period in

central Queensland, coupled with above average rainfall in SE Queensland during January 2004,

may have provided conditions which triggered the migration.

Introduction

For many tropical insects in Australia, particularly those associated with

seasonally ephemeral resources, migration is an important aspect of the life

history strategy (Jones 1987). While migration has been documented for

many species of butterflies and moths (Dingle et al. 1999), only for a limited

number of species in Australia are there sufficient data to interpret overall

movement patterns between geographical areas and between seasons (Dingle

et al. 1999, Greenslade et al. 1999). Records of butterfly migration frequently

consist of one or a few observations from single localities, often of limited

duration, thereby precluding broader understanding of the temporal and

spatial scale of the migration. An exception was perhaps the summer of 1973-

74, when significant range extensions and/or numbers outside the normal

areas of distribution were recorded for many species in southeastern Australia

(Quick 1974).

The summer of 2003-04 was remarkable for the large number of species

observed migrating simultaneously in southeastern Australia. In southeastern

Queensland, 14 species of butterflies (listed subjectively in decreasing order

of relative abundance: Tirumala hamata (W.S. Macleay), Catopsilia pomona

(Fabricius), Appias paulina (Cramer), Graphium eurypylus (Linnaeus),

Euploea core (Cramer), Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus), Junonia villida

(Fabricius), Cepora perimale (Donovan), Belenois java (Linnaeus),

Catopsilia pyranthe (Linnaeus), C. gorgophone (Boisduval), Protographium

leosthenes (Doubleday), Zizina labradus (Godart), Zizula hylax (Fabricius)),

representing four different families, were recorded moving southwards en

masse in exceptionally large numbers during early January 2004 by

lepidopterists in several localities. These localities included Pomona, 25 km

SSE of Gympie, Qld (R.P. Mayo, pers. comm.), the Eudlo district, 80 km

north of Brisbane, Qld (A.F. Atkins, pers. comm.) and Acacia Plateau in the

Border Ranges (c. 700 m) between Killarney, Qld and Legume, NSW (A.

Sundholm and R. Chin, pers. comms) (Fig. 1).

84 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

QUEENSLAND

BRISBANE

Killarney

Lennox

Head

NEW SOUTH WALES

NEWCASTLE

Canberra

Fig. 1. Map of southeastern Australia, showing localities (e) referred to in the text

where adults of Appias paulina and Catopsilia pomona were observed migrating

south in SE Qld and NE NSW during January-February 2004 and where they were

recorded in SE NSW and the ACT around the same period. Dashed line (latitude

33°S) near Newcastle, NSW, represents putative southern (temporary) breeding limit

of the two species. The source of the migration was unknown but was probably in

central coastal Queensland in the vicinity of the Tropic of Capricorn (23°S).

This migration, amongst the largest observed for many years in terms of both

numbers of species and individuals, continued for several weeks well into

February. Some of the more abundant species, such as 7. hamata and C.

pomona, were first noted in smaller numbers as early as late October or

November 2003 and continued until about April 2004 (A.F. Atkins and R.P.

Mayo, pers. comms). Other migratory species, such as Badamia

exclamationis (Fabricius), Eurema herla (W.S. Macleay), Junonia orithya

(Linnaeus) and Hypolimnas misippus (Linnaeus), which are more common in

tropical latitudes and rarely seen in southeastern Queensland, also appeared

around the same time in late summer 2004 (Mayo 2004 and pers. comm.).

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 85

Further south in New South Wales, several species, including T. hamata, C.

pomona, A. paulina, G. eurypylus, E. core, C. perimale and B. java, were

recorded migrating southwards at Lennox Head in northeastern New South

Wales during January-February 2004 (C.G. Miller, pers. comm.). Around the

same time, an influx of T. hamata, C. pomona, A. paulina, H. bolina and

Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) was also noted in the Sydney district

(Robinson 2004), an area where these species are not normally present. On

the coast at Wollongong and on the southern tablelands near Bowral (640 m),

NSW, Brown (2004 and pers. comm.) recorded the appearance of three

species (C. pomona, A. paulina, G. eurypylus) throughout January and

February 2004, as well as a single specimen of P. /eosthenes (on 1 Feb. 2004)

in a bushland garden at Bowral. The occurrence of P. /eosthenes at Bowral

was notable as this represented the first recording of the species in the district

during the past 15 years of observation (S.S. Brown, pers. comm.).

Here I report on several observations of two pierid species, A. paulina and C.

pomona, made opportunistically in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

and southeastern New South Wales in January-February 2004, which may

have been part of the same mass movement near the coast of southeastern

Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. Small numbers of D.

chrysippus were also recorded flying west, between mid February and mid

March 2004, in the Belconnen area of the ACT and nearby areas but these

observations are not detailed here. I use the term ‘migration’ in the sense of

Dingle et al. (1999), in that the butterflies’ behaviour consisted of persistent

directional movement, undistracted by nectar sources (except for the

acquisition of energy, usually during the morning), but not necessarily to the

exclusion of oviposition on larval food plants.

Observations

Appias paulina

On 24 Jan. 2004, between 1530 and 1630 h (Daylight Saving Time), a mass

directional flight was recorded by G. Guy, S. Caton, L.J. Aitchison and the

author at Yowrie (36°19’S, 149°43’E; 200 m a.s.l.), about 15 km ENE of

Cobargo, NSW. Butterflies were moving rapidly (approx. 4 m/sec or 14

km/hr) in a southerly direction over a 30-40 m front along a riparian corridor

of tall open forest/woodland dominated by Allocasuarina cunninghamiana

(Casuarinaceae) growing on the banks of the Yowrie River. Butterflies were

counted moving across the front at a rate of one adult per minute during the

one hour observation period (i.e. 60/hr). The migration was limited to the

river valley, with adults flying within a few metres above the ground, either

directly over the water surface or along the banks. They were not observed

flying in the adjacent farmland. Most of the specimens of A. paulina

collected at Yowrie were ‘slightly worn’ to ‘worn’ and none was ‘fresh’, as

indicated by the extent of scale loss and damage to the wing margins.

However, two specimens (Figs 2-5) were in good condition, with only slight

86 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

damage/loss to the margins and scales. Variation in wing condition suggests

either a mixed age class or that individuals had travelled different distances.

Other observations of this species made by the author during the 2003-04

flight season in southeastern NSW and the ACT included: (1) 1 male

observed flying south over the summit of a hilltop at Peak Alone, Wandella

State Forest, NSW (36°18’S, 149°47’E; 960 m a.s.l.), 24 Jan. 2004, at about

1230 h (DST); (2) 3 males observed flying rapidly (approx. 6 m/sec or 22

km/hr) south in open parkland at Bega, NSW (36°40’S, 149°50’E; 50 m

a.s.l.), 26 Jan. 2004, during periods of patchy sunshine between 1245 and

1415 h (DST); (3) 1 female in worn condition observed between the Botany

and Zoology buildings, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

(35°16’S, 149°06’E; 590 m a.s.l), 27 Jan. 2004, at 1530-1532 h (DST); the

specimen appeared to be searching for flowers or possibly a perch on which

to settle; (4) 1 female observed, 2 males collected (and released) whilst

feeding at flowers in the Tallaganda State Forest (35°28’S, 149°34’E; 1100 m

a.s.l.), approximately 15 km ESE of Hoskinstown, NSW, 1 Feb. 2004, during

late morning and mid afternoon; (5) 2 females, 1 male observed at the same

location as the previous record, but on 14 Feb. 2004.

Catopsilia pomona

On 1 Feb. 2004, at 1130 h (DST), an adult C. pomona was observed by J.

Armstrong, C.E. Meyer and the author in eucalypt open forest on the Great

Dividing Range in the Tallaganda State Forest (35°28’S, 149°36’E; 1250 m

a.s.l.), approximately 16 km ESE of Hoskinstown, NSW. It appeared

uniformly white above but slightly pinker below and was probably a male

‘pale form’, distinguished from males of Appias paulina (the only other

similar species in both size and colour pattern in SE NSW and which was

also present in the area), by the more rounded termen of the hindwing, lack of

obvious black markings in the apex of the forewing and larger size.

Two days later, on 3 Feb. 2004 at 1315 h (DST), a male C. pomona ‘dark

from’ was observed by the author flying rapidly (approx. 5 m/sec or 18

km/hr) in a westerly direction in degraded woodland/urban parkland, about

2.5 m above the ground, near the Macgregor Primary School (35°12’S,

149°00°E; 570 m a.s.l), Macgregor, 13 km NW of Canberra, ACT. The

specimen was in view for approximately 10 sec before it disappeared behind

residential houses. It flew in a constant direction and within a few metres of

my position, allowing reasonable examination of its identity. Distinguishing

features included: size (about the same size as male Heteronympha merope

(Fabricius), colour (fore and hind wings uniformly canary yellow) and

pattern (faint black edging along wing margins). The only other yellow

pierids in the ACT and adjacent areas of NSW, with which it could be

confused, are Eurema smilax (Donovan) and Æ. hecabe (Linnaeus), the

former of which regularly visits the region during migration. Both are

substantially smaller in size and have a less powerful flight than C. pomona.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 87

Figs 2-5. Examples of both sexes of Appias paulina collected from Yowrie, 15 km

ENE of Cobargo, NSW, 24 Jan. 2004: (2) male upperside; (3) male underside; (4)

female upperside; (5) female underside. Scale bar = 20 mm.

Discussion

Appias paulina makes irregular and temporary extensions in range to

southeastern NSW and eastern and central Victoria and, rarely, Tasmania,

usually in summer (Smithers 1983); however, too few data are available to

draw firm conclusions on overall patterns of movement throughout the

species’ range (Dingle ef al. 1999). It is not listed for the ACT (Kitching er

al. 1978), although in the rainforest gully of the Australian National Botanic

Gardens both sexes, but especially males, were common for a brief period in

late January 1998 (M.F. Braby, unpublished data). Two seasons earlier I

recorded five adults flying west at Brown Mountain (1240 m a.s.l.) near

Nimmitabel, NSW, on 26 Jan. 1996 between 1410 and 1450 h (DST) (1 male,

1 female collected). The southern distributional limit of Drypetes deplanchei

(Euphorbiaceae), the primary larval food plant of A. paulina, lies in rainforest

remnants in central coastal NSW (Hunter River valley near Newcastle) and

this region is believed to be the southern breeding limit of the butterfly

(Atkins 1992, Braby 2000). It is not certain, however, if A. paulina breeds

88 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

permanently or only temporarily (seasonally) in the Hunter River valley.

Occurrences of A. paulina outside the breeding range south of Newcastle are

believed to be the result of southward migration, but few details have been

documented (Smithers 1983, Dingle et al. 1999). Appearances in the southern

temperate areas are usually of short duration, although in some years the

species may be relatively abundant (Smithers 1983, Atkins 1992).

Despite the fact that Catopsilia pomona has the common name ‘Lemon

Migrant’, records of migration of this species are remarkably few (Dingle et

al. 1999) and in far southeastern Australia the species appears to be a rare

visitor (Common and Waterhouse 1981, Smithers 1983), especially in the

more temperate areas south of about Sydney, where the species does not

breed (Waterhouse 1932). In the 1991-92 summer season, when C. pomona

and several other species of butterflies were recorded migrating south in

central coastal NSW (Atkins 1992), it was collected at Wombarra, about 50

km SSW of Sydney, NSW (1 female ‘pale form’ collected 20 Feb. 1992 by F.

Douglas, pers. comm.) and at Wamboin, about 7 km NW of Bungendore,

NSW (1 male collected 7 Jan. 1992 by J. Armstrong, pers. comm.). It has not

previously been recorded in the ACT (Kitching et al. 1978), but it has been

sighted intermittently farther west in western and northwestern Victoria

(Braby 2000) and once in South Australia, at Berri in 1935 (Fisher 1978).

Most of these southern records occur in January and February when the

species makes temporary extensions in range during migration, often

coinciding with major southern invasions of A. paulina (Smithers 1983). The

southern breeding limit has not been established with certainty, but Atkins

(1992) noted that it breeds temporarily during the warmer months in central

coastal NSW (Newcastle district). Permanent breeding populations are

probably established much further north, possibly near the tropics.

The opportunistic observations made on A. paulina in southeastern NSW and

the ACT during the 2003-04 flight season, together with those made on

directional flights at Yowrie and Bega, suggest that a southern migration,

resulting in temporary range extension of the species, occurred over at least a

three week period between late January and mid February 2004. The two

observations made on C. pomona in the same general area in early February

2004 coincided with this southern migration of A. paulina. More

significantly, the observations made on these two species in the temperate

areas of southeastern Australia coincided with the period when A. paulina

and C. pomona were observed migrating in large numbers in southeastern

Qld and northeastern NSW, as well as their sudden appearance in coastal

areas and the southern tablelands of NSW during January and February 2004

(Fig. 1). Since the general movements throughout southeastern Australia

were in a southern direction, particularly in A. paulina, it seems likely that

the butterflies observed in southeastern NSW and the ACT were part of the

same overall mass flight noted further north in January-February 2004.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 89

Directional (southern) movements of A. paulina were recorded only in the

coastal lowland areas of NSW, whereas the few specimens observed (of both

species) in the ACT and nearby areas of Tallaganda State Forest (on the

Great Dividing Range), NSW, were either flying west or not flying in any

particular direction, particularly when feeding from flowers. On the southern

tablelands at Bowral, NSW, the flight of A. paulina and C. pomona was also

non-directional, with much time devoted to searching for and feeding from

flowers (S.S. Brown, pers. comm.). This suggests that, in the higher latitudes

south of Newcastle, part of the migration dispersed inland west of the Great

Escarpment and Great Dividing Range. In this context it is notable that the

individuals of A. paulina I observed eight seasons earlier, in late January

1996 in the uplands at Brown Mountain (40 km SW of Yowrie), NSW, a

short distance inland of the Great Escarpment, were all flying west.

Bega, the southernmost record made for migrating 4. paulina, is a coastal

locality 35 km S of Yowrie, NSW and approximately 1200 km SSW of

Pomona, Qld (the northernmost locality where migration was recorded). If

the butterflies observed in coastal southeastern NSW at Bega and Yowrie

were indeed part of the same general mass movement in southeastern Qld,

then they must have travelled well over 1200 km. The source of the migration

is not known but was probably further north, possibly in the dry rainforests of

central coastal Qld near the vicinity of the Tropic of Capricorn (R.P. Mayo

pers. comm.). If so, then some individuals may have travelled up to 1500 km,

although it is possible that adults originating in northeastern NSW may have

also joined the migration.

Taking an average of the two speeds estimated at Yowrie and Bega, a

conservative estimate of the average velocity of A. paulina is 18 km/hr. If it

is assumed that adults maintain this speed for at least half the day (i.e. for

about six hours, with the remainder of the day devoted to resting, refuelling at

nectar sources, puddling, etc)', then the average minimum distance travelled

per day extrapolates to 108 km. At this speed, the distance between the

Pomona district, Qld, and Yowrie-Bega, NSW, would be accomplished in a

maximum of 11 days. The time difference may well be much shorter than

this, particularly if butterflies vary their speed and/or temporal duration of

flight, both of which may depend on environmental factors such as

temperature and available sunshine. Nevertheless, a time lag of around 11

days between the two geographical areas would readily account for the

appearance of A. paulina in southeastern NSW and the ACT during the same

months when the species was also noted migrating by several observers in

southeastern Qld and northeastern NSW.

lIn SE Qld during January 2004, R.P. Mayo (pers. comm.) estimated that 4. paulina

adults were migrating mainly from 1000-1500 h (EST), with reduced activity

(puddling) during the heat of the day between 1200-1300 h.

90 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

The factors contributing to such movement patterns among Australian pierids

have not been investigated, although climatic variables are suspected (Atkins

1992, Dingle er al. 1999). All observations in January-February were made

during calm weather, so wind is not considered to be a likely factor. The

mass migration in southeastern Queensland in early 2004 coincided with

above average rainfall (1.7 fold increase) for January (279 mm compared

with the monthly average of 159 mm for Brisbane) (Fig. 6b). Moreover,

central coastal Qld (near the Tropic of Capricorn) experienced well above

average rainfall (2.7 fold increase) three months earlier, in October 2003 (121

mm compared with the monthly average of 45 mm for Rockhampton),

following a prolonged dry period (7 months) when the monthly rainfall was

consistently below average (Fig. 6a). In contrast, rainfall for the same period

was close to or, more frequently, below average for Brisbane and the wet

season did not commence until December 2003 (Fig. 6b).

Many of the species noted migrating in southeastern Qld during January-

February 2004 are associated with plants in disturbed areas or dry rainforest

habitats and some are characterised by ‘boom-bust’ life cycles, in that

populations build up rapidly only when conditions are seasonally favourable

(see review chapters in Kitching ef al. 1999). At least one species (C.

pomona) breeds seasonally during the wet season and completes its life cycle

rapidly, within 2-3 weeks (Rienks 1985, Jones ef al. 1987). Assuming that the

source of the migration was near the vicinity of Tropic of Capricorn, one

scenario is that a significant rainfall event in October created conditions that

triggered breeding and then migration several weeks later. The above average

rainfall recorded in southeastern Qld three months later, in January 2004,

may in turn have facilitated dispersal southwards and subsequent breeding

within that region. Such an hypothesis is consistent with field observations, at

least for C. pomona where adults were first noted migrating in southeastern

Qld in late October-November 2003 and then were more abundant in

January-February 2004 (A.F. Atkins and R.P. Mayo, pers. comms).

No return (northern) flights of A. paulina and C. pomona have been recorded

in southeastern NSW, the ACT or eastern Victoria. Dingle et al. (1999)

pointed out that, in species which are characterised by such unidirectional

migrations into non-breeding areas, this will result in the loss of migrant

genes from the population, raising interesting biological questions regarding

the adaptive significance of such unidirectional (suicidal) flights. One theory,

proposed by Dingle ef al. (1999), is that such losses may be sustainable

provided there is genetic variation in migrating capacity, such that a

proportion of individuals (the short distance migrants) produce many

offspring in suitable habitats before dispersing completely out of the breeding

range (e.g. northeastern NSW in the case of the two pierid species). Adults

from this next generation then gradually disperse back to the original source,

but in substantially lower numbers.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 91

Rainfall (mm)

400

(a) Rockhampton

300

100

JFMAMJJASOND JFM

2003 2004

400

(b) Brisbane

300

200

100

JFMAMJJAS ON DJFM

2003 2004

Month

Fig. 6. Monthly rainfall data for the period January 2003-March 2004 for: (a) central

coastal Queensland (Rockhampton) and (b) southeastern Queensland (Brisbane).

Dashed line represents average monthly rainfall for each locality. Vertical arrow in (a)

indicates start of the wet season with a significant rainfall event in October for

Rockhampton following a 7 month dry spell. Horizontal arrow in (b) indicates major

period when Appias paulina, Catopsilia pomona and many other butterflies were

recorded migrating south en masse in SE Qld.

92 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Acknowledgements

I thank Penny Greenslade and a reviewer for comments on the manuscript

and A.F. Atkins, S.S. Brown, R.P. Mayo, C.G. Miller, A. Sundholm, R. Chin,

J. Armstrong and F. Douglas for providing their detailed observations on

migration and/or southern distribution records. C.E. Meyer, J. Armstrong, G.

Guy, S. Caton and L.J. Aitchison kindly assisted with field work.

References

ATKINS, A.F. 1992. Migrating Lepidoptera in January, 1992, on the central coast of New South

Wales. Victorian Entomologist 22: 41.

BRABY, M.F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution. 2

vols. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne; xx + 976 pp.

BROWN, S.S. 2004. A range extension for Protographium leosthenes leosthenes (Doubleday)

(Lepidopera: Papilionidae) in southern Australia. Australian Entomologist 31(3): 110.

COMMON, LF.B. and WATERHOUSE, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Revised edition,

Angus and Robertson, Sydney; xiv + 682 pp.

DINGLE, H., ZALUCKI, M.P. and ROCHESTER, W.A. 1999. Season-specific directional

movement in migratory Australian butterflies. Australian Journal of Entomology 38: 323-329.

FISHER, R.H. 1978. Butterflies of South Australia. Government Printer, Adelaide; 272 pp.

GREENSLADE, P.G., FARROW, R.A. and SMITH, J.M.B. 1999. Long distance migration of

insects to a subantarctic island. Journal of Biogeography 26: 1161-1167.

JONES, R.E. 1987. Reproductive strategies for the seasonal tropics. Insect Science and

Application 8: 515-521.

JONES, R.E., RIENKS, J., WILSON, L., LOKKERS, C. and CHURCHILL, T. 1987.

Temperature, development and survival in monophagous and polyphagous tropical pierid

butterflies. Australian Journal of Zoology 35: 235-246.

KITCHING, R.L., EDWARDS, E.D., FERGUSON, D., FLETCHER, M.B. and WALKER, J.M.

1978. The butterflies of the Australian Capital Territory. Journal of the Australian

Entomological Society 17: 125-133.

KITCHING, R.L., SCHEERMEYER, E., JONES, R.E. and PIERCE, N.E. 1999. The biology of

Australian butterflies. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Volume 6. CSIRO Publishing,

Melbourne; xvi + 395 pp.

MAYO, R.P. 2004. Interesting distribution records of butterflies in south east Queensland. News

Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Queensland 32 (3): 64-65.

QUICK, W.N.B. 1974. Some abnormal insect records for the summers of 1972-3, 1973-4.

Victorian Entomologist 4: 66-71.

RIENKS, J.H. 1985. Phenotypic response to photoperiod and temperature in a tropical pierid

butterfly. Australian Journal of Zoology 33: 837-847.

ROBINSON, M. 2004. [No title]. Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Newsletter 32: 20.

SMITHERS, C.N. 1983. Migration records in Australia. 4. Pieridae (Lepidoptera) other than

Anaphaeis java teutonia (F.). Australian Entomological Magazine 10: 47-54.

WATERHOUSE, G.A. 1932. What butterfly is that? Angus and Robertson, Sydney; 291 pp.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2): 93-95 93

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF

OPODIPHTHERA FERVIDA (JORDAN)

(LEPIDOPTERA: SATURNIIDAE)

D.A. LANE

3 Janda Street, Atherton, Old 4883 `

Abstract

The egg and early instar larvae of Opodiphthera fervida (Jordan) are described and figured.

Introduction

Opodiphthera fervida (Jordan) occurs in rainforest between Mossman and

Paluma in northeastern Queensland (Common 1990). Adults first appear in

October after summer storms and have been collected until May, suggesting

at least two broods. Adults readily come to light, with males encountered

more frequently than females. Larvae are regularly found during summer

months, particularly at higher altitudes on the Atherton Tablelands (900-1200

m). At Atherton during December and January, development times were:

eggs six days; first to final instar larva 24-30 days; adults emerging from

pupae after 15-25 days. Some pupae go into diapause, with adults emerging

the following season. From reared specimens, the ratio of males to females is

approximately 3:2. The final instar larva has been briefly described, aspects

of its biology discussed and comparisons made with the closely related O.

astrophela (Walker) by Lane (1994). This paper presents further notes,

descriptions and illustrations of the egg and larval instars.

Life history notes

Foodplants. Maesa muelleri Mez and Rapanea porosa (F. Muell.) Mez

(Myrsinaceae).

Egg (Fig. 1). Flat type, ovoid in shape, approximately 1 mm x 0.8 mm; light

brown in colour. The eggs are laid either in a straight or curved line of 3-20

on the underside of foodplant leaves, or occasionally in a linear pyramid

formation (totalling 60-80 eggs) up to 10 rows high on the foodplant stems.

This behaviour of laying eggs in a pyramid formation is unique in the

Australian Saturniinae, but has been reported in the domesticated Asian

Attacine species Samia ricini (Donovan) (Peigler and Wang 1996).

First instar larva (Fig. 2). Length 5-7 mm. Head, body and legs light brown.

Each segment carries small slightly raised scoli, coloured light yellow, that

bear very fine, short setae. Larvae feed gregariously on juvenile foliage, in

groups of several up to forty, resting and feeding on the undersides of leaves.

Second instar larva (Fig. 3). Length 7-18 mm. Head, body and legs black.

Raised scoli black, proportionately larger than those of first instar larva.

Numerous very fine white setae arise from scoli. Larvae still feed in

gregarious clusters, but begin to disperse in smaller groups around the

foodplant.

94 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

Figs 1-7. Early stages of Opodiphthera fervida. (1) egg batches; (2) first instar larvae;

(3) second instar larvae; (4-5) third instar larvae; (6-7) fifth instar larva.

Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2) 95

Third instar larva (Figs 4-5). Length 18-50 mm. Head and thoracic legs dark

brown; body and prolegs jet black. Raised scoli are reddish orange on

thoracic segments, changing to orange on abdominal segments. Long white

setae extend from scoli. Shorter white setae arise from prolegs. Spiracles

distinctly white. A yellow lateral line connects orange scoli below spiracles.

Larvae disperse around the foodplant and feed singly.

Fourth instar larva. Length 50-75 mm. Similar to fifth instar but not as

stocky.

Fifth instar larva (Figs 6-7). Length 75-90 mm. Head, body and prolegs jet

black; thoracic legs reddish. Scoli are bright reddish on thoracic segments,

changing to orange with red tips on abdominal segments. All scoli adorned

with long white setae. Spiracles white. A yellow lateral line connects orange

scoli below spiracles. Prolegs adorned with shorter white setae.

Pupation. Larvae leave the foodplants to pupate and may wander

considerable distances to find a suitable pupation site. In the wild, wandering

larvae were observed more than 15 metres away from their foodplant trees,

both moving across foliage and on the ground. It is unclear exactly where

larvae pupate in the wild, as wild pupae have not been located. In captivity,

just prior to pupating, mature larvae always move to the base of containers, or

to the base of sleeves placed on foodplants, and push their way into crevices,

fallen leaves or debris, where they pupate singly or in clusters, with

surrounding leaves or debris wrapped around the pupal cocoons. Cocoons are

dark brown in colour, with the silk walls relatively thin, giving the cocoon

minor rigidity and stiffness, but not as stiff and rigid as Opodiphthera

eucalypti (Scott) (Common 1990).

Acknowledgements

Thanks are extended to Garry Sankowsky for help with photography, to

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service for scientific permits allowing

research within National Parks and State Forest areas under their jurisdiction,

and also to Mr John Olive of Cairns, who generously donated a batch of

mature larvae found at Upper Barron.

References

COMMON, LF.B. 1990. Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press, Carlton; xxxii + 535

pp.

LANE, D.A. 1994. Notes on the life history of Opodiphthera fervida (Jordan) (Lepidoptera:

Saturniidae). Australian Entomologist 21: 37-38.

PEIGLER, R.S. and WANG, H.Y. 1996. Saturniid moths of southeastern Asia. The Taiwan

Museum, Taipei; xii + 262 pp.

96 Australian Entomologist, 2005, 32 (2)

BOOK REVIEW

The complete field guide to butterflies of Australia. By M. F. Braby. CSIRO

Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria; October 2004; x + 340 pp; paperback. ISBN 0 643

09027 4. Price A$39.95.

This handy book is intended as a field version of Michael Braby’s 2 volume opus,

‘Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution’, published by

CSIRO in 2000. As such, it focuses on colour illustrations of all species, the facing

text mainly devoted to notes on behaviour, habitat and larval food plants, features

most useful to field collectors. However, it does stand alone as a useful reference

work on Australian butterflies and in some cases updates the previous work.

The number of butterfly species now recognised within Australian limits has

increased from 414 in ‘Butterflies of Australia’ to 416 in the present work, with two

deletions [plus the continued non-recognition of Elodina tongura Tindale], two

additional species recognised from mainland Australia and two additional species

recorded from Christmas Island. However, since going to press several further

discoveries have been made, including Acrodipsas decima Miller & Lane from the

Northern Territory and several newly recorded species from the islands of Torres

Strait, so the list continues to increase.

As in ‘Butterflies of Australia’, the mandatory rule of the International Code of

Zoological Nomenclature concerning gender agreement in specific names has been

disregarded; thus another opportunity to correct this indiscretion has been lost. The

trend towards ‘original spellings’ is only useful in Europe, where generic placement

of butterfly species varies from country to country. Generic placement in Australia is

generally stable and books published by CSIRO should, instead of following ‘trends’,

follow the rules of the Code and set a good and proper example to the next generation

of enthusiasts. In the field guide a greater emphasis has been placed on common

names, with author citations for species relegated to the accompanying checklist near

the back of the book. This is also unfortunate, since common names are not

universally recognised and have no standing under the Code.

The text appears relatively free of typographical errors. A cursory read only produced

two - Deudorix ‘smiles’ [smilis] on p. 26 and Dusky ‘Night’ [Knight] on p. 151. On p.

25, ‘less’ is used inappropriately in place of ‘fewer’ when dealing with numbers. The

photograph on p. 9 appears to be upside down. One of the studies used to support

recognition (p. 24) of Ornithoptera euphorion (Gray) as a distinct species [Morinaka

et al. 2000] did not use any Australian material and is inappropriately quoted.

The above criticisms are not intended to detract from the overall quality and

usefulness of this fine book. The illustrations are superb and, together with the

accompanying text and maps, should enable identification of even the most difficult

of species. It is highly recommended, particularly for those who enjoy watching or

collecting butterflies in the field or have not lashed out on the more lavish ‘Butterflies

of Australia’.

David L. Hancock

Cairns

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTICES

Items for insertion should be sent to the editor who reserves the right to alter, reject

or charge for notices.

NOTES FOR AUTHORS

Manuscripts submitted for publication should, preferably, be type-written,

double spaced and in triplicate. Refer to recent issues for layout and style.

All papers will be forwarded to two referees and the editor reserves the right

to reject any paper considered unsuitable.

It is Magazine editorial policy that usage of taxonomic nomenclature will

comply with the mandatory provisions of the International Code of

Zoological Nomenclature.

Papers longer than ten printed pages will normally not be accepted.

Papers will be accepted only if a minimum of 100 reprints is purchased.

Manuscripts occupying less than one printed page may be accepted without

charge if no reprints are required. Charges are as follows: cost per printed

page $27.50 (B&W), $60 (colour) for 100 copies. Page charges may be reduced at

the discretion of the Publications Committee.

Illustrations. Both colour and B&W photographs must be submitted at the

size they are to appear in the journal. Line drawings should be about twice

their required size.

Address manuscripts to: The Editor

The Australian Entomologist

P.O. Box 537,

Indooroopilly, Qld, 4068

Australia

Printed by ColourWise Reproductions, 300 Ann Street, Brisbane, 4000.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Entomologist

Volume 32, Part 2, 29 June 2005

KKK

CONTENTS

BRABY, M.F.

Migration of two species of Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) in

southeastern Australia.

HANCOCK, D.L.

A note on three unusual species of Phytalmiinae (Diptera: Tephritidae)

from Papua New Guinea.

HUMPHREYS, G.S.

Variation in population density of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in

the Sydney region: Psaltoda moerens (Germar), Thopha saccata

(Fabricius) and the ‘spreta’ form of Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan).

LAMBKIN, T.A. AND KNIGHT, A.I.

New Australian butterfly records (Lepidoptera) from Saibai and Dauan Islands,

Torres Strait, Queensland.

LANE, D.A.

Additional notes on the life history of Opodiphthera fervida (Jordan)

(Lepidoptera: Saturniidae).

LANE, D.A. AND EDWARDS, E.D.

The status of Opodiphthera carnea (Sonthonnax) and Opodiphthera loranthi

(Lucas) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) in northern and eastern Australia.

MAKINSON, J.R., GOOLSBY, J.A., MEYERDIRK, D.E., KIRK, A.A. AND BURWELL, CJ.

A new record and host association for the pigeonpea pod fly, Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch)

(Diptera: Agromyzidae) and notes on its parasitoids in the Northern Territory, Australia. 79

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

BOOK REVIEW

The complete field guide to butterflies of Australia. M.F. Braby

ISSN 1320 6133