MARUMBA ECHEPHRON (Boisduval, [1875])

TAXONOMY

Smerinthus echephron Boisduval, [1875], In: Boisduval & Guenée, Hist. nat. Insectes (Spec. gén. Lépid. Hétérocères) 1: 21. Type locality: Japan.

Synonym. Smerinthus heynei Austaut, 1892, Naturaliste (2)6: 68-69.

Synonym. Smerinthus maasseni Staudinger, 1892, Mém. Lép. 6: 236.

Synonym. Triptogon roseipennis Butler, 1875, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1875: 257-258.

Note. Previously regarded as a subspecies of Marumba gaschkewitschii (Bremer & Grey, 1853). Now considered to be a distinct species (Eitschberger, 2012), although the differences used to separate it from M. gaschkewitschii are small.

ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

ADULT BIOLOGY

FLIGHT-TIME

Japan: 14.v-29.vii (Honshu); 25.v-7.viii (Hokkaido); 26.v (Shikoku); 23.vii (Tsushima).

EARLY STAGES

OVUM: Pale, translucent jade green at first, but developing a yellow sheen; oval (2.00 x 1.4mm), shiny and smooth.

LARVA:

PUPA:

Larval hostplants. Recorded from many species of Prunus, including P. armeniaca, P. grayana, P. japonica, P. mume, P. salicina as well as Eriobotrya japonica, Kerria japonica, Malus halliana and Malus pumila. There are also reports of Buxus microphylla, Euonymus alatus and Weigela coraeensis.

PARASITOIDS

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

Japan: Hokkaido (Kushiro); Honshu (Nashimoto; Tokyo; Yokohama; Nii-jima; Fujisawa; Bushi; Mitsunime; Kiyosato, 1300m); Shikoku (Shioemachi); Kyushu; Tsushima (Izuhara); Yakushima.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Endemic to Japan.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION