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The Tigermoths (Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini) of Papua Indonesia
by Rob de Vos
Amerila astreus (Drury, 1773)
[Sphinx astreas Drury, 1773] (type not located, Bengal, India)
synonyms:
novaeguineae Rothschild, 1914 [syntypes (type: "New Guinea", BMNH]
druryi Rothschild, 1914 [type: "New Guinea", not located]
Similar species
Females of Amerila caudipennis resemble more or less specimens of A. astreus. The lobe in the tornus of the hindwing, however, is in caudipennis much larger than in astreus (see pictures below). The red colour of the abdomen is in females of caudipennis brighter than in astreus.
Distribution
STATUS: Very common and widely distributed in Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia.
PAPUA LOCALITIES: Numfor; Supiori: Nansfori; Biak: Biak; Pulau Liki; New Guinea: Ampas, Arfak Mts., Etna Bay, Genyem, Ifar, Humboldt Bay, Jayapura, Mt. Kunupi (Kobowre Mts.), Nabire, Ninay Valley (Arfak), Prafi, Pusspenssat, Sarmi, Sentani, Setekwa River, Ubrub, Utakwa River, Walmak (Nipsan), Wandammen Mts. Details in gazetteer.
EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION: From India to the Fiji Islands. The most common Amerila species.
DATA SOURCES: BMNH, CMWM, KSP, RMNH, ZMAN. Literature (see below).
Literature refering to Papua records
Arora, G.S. & M. Chaudhury, 1982. On the Lepidopterous fauna of Arunachal Pradesh & adjoining areas of Assam in North-East India: family Arctiidae. Technical Monograph of the Zoological Survey of India 6: 1-65.
Eecke, R. van, 1928. De Heterocera van Sumatra, V. Zoologische Mededeelingen, Leiden 11(2-3): 49-145.
Guérin-Méneville, F.C., 1830. In: M.L.I. Duperrey. Voyage autour du monde, exécuté par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de sa Majesté, la Coquille, pendant les années 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2(2). Premiere division. Crustacés, Arachnides et insectes : 9-319, atlas & 21 plates. Arthus Bertrand, Paris.
Häuser, C.L., 1993. A critical catalogue of species-group names of the genus Amerila Walker, 1855 (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo 13(3a): 365-392.
Holloway, J.D., 1988. The Moths of Borneo 6, Arctiidae, Syntominae, Euchromiinae, Arctiinae, Aganainae (to Noctuidae): 101 pp. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.
Nieuwenhuis, E.J., 1948. Lepidoptera van den Banggaai-Archipel II. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 89: 139-148.
Rothschild, L.W., 1914. In: Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 10: Spinner und Schwarmer des Indo-Australischen Gebiets, Arctiidae: 236-263. A. Kernen, Stuttgart.
Strand. E., 1919. Lepidopterorum Catalogus 22: Arctiidae: Subfam. Arctiinae: 1-416. W. Junk, Berlin.
Zamesov, A.N. & O.G. Gorbunov, 2014. To the knowledge of Macroheterocera of Southeast Asia and New Guinea. III. Tiger moths (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae: Arctiinae) of Papua Province, Indonesia. Biodiversity, Biogeography and Nature Conservation in Wallacea and New Guinea 2: 437-448.
