Hodebertia testalis ( Fabricius, 1794 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 105-106

Hodebertia testalis ( Fabricius, 1794)

COMMON NAME(S): Incolorous pearl.

SYNONYM(S): Botys perpendiculalis Duponchel, 1833 ; Botys incoloralis Guenée, 1854 ; Botys ruficostalis Lederer, 1855 ; Botys melonalis Walker, 1859c ; Spilodes nitetisalis Walker, 1859c ; Botys albidalis Walker, 1866a ; Margaronia putrescens Meyrick, 1934; Pyrausta phyllidalis Schaus, 1940 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Australia ( Queensland), Botswana, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mozambique, Portugal, Réunion, Saint Helena, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Kabwe, in Central Province; Lusaka, in Lusaka Province.

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Host plants of the taxon include: three Apocynaceae species ( Asclepias curassavica L., Asclepias sp. and Gomphocarpus sp. ) and one Malvaceae species ( Hibiscus sp. ) in the Réunion; one Apocynaceae species ( Asclepias sp. ) in Saint Helena; one Asclepiadaceae species ( Stapelia sp. ) in South Africa; one Asclepiadaceae species ( Pergularia extensa (Jacq.) N.E. Br. ) in the Democratic Republic of Congo and one Asclepiadaceae species ( Pergularia daemia (Forssk.) Chiov. ) in one unnamed African country or countries.

African Moths (2019 ireports six Apocynaceae species of plants ( Asclepias curassavica L., Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand., C. procera (Aiton) Dryand. , Leptadenia madagascariensis Decne , Gomphocarpus sp. and Stapelia sp. ), two Malvaceae species ( Hibiscus sp. and Sida rhombifolia ), one Rutaceae species ( Citrus sp. ) and one Asclepiadoideae species ( Pergularia daemia ( Forssk.) Chiov. )) as larval foodplants of this species.

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Ghesquière 1942; Guillermet 2009; Martiré & Rochat 2008; Meyrick 1934a; Poltavsky et al. 2018b; Wollaston 1879.