MARUMBA SAISHIUANA FORMOSANA Matsumura, 1927

Female Marumba saishiuana formosana. Photo: © NHMUK Male Marumba saishiuana formosana. Photo: © NHMUK

TAXONOMY

Marumba formosana Matsumura 1927, J. Coll. Agric. Hokkaido Imp. Univ. 19: 2. Type locality: Formosa [Taiwan, Nantou Hsien], Horisha [Puli].

Note. DNA barcode analysis indicates that this taxon is not a separate entity from the population on the Chinese mainland and that the two taxa should be merged (Ian Kitching, pers. comm. 2021). However, Eitschberger & Nguyen (2021) split the Taiwanese population into two full species, namely Marumba formosana and the new Marumba heppneri.


ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Wingspan: 80--85mm.


Adult Marumba saishiuana formosana, Dongpu (1200m), Nantou Hsien, Taiwan. Photo: © Shipher Wu.

ADULT BIOLOGY


FLIGHT-TIME

Taiwan: iii-v (Kaohsiung Hsien); iv-ix (Hualien Hsien); vii (??Gold Mountain).


EARLY STAGES

OVUM:

LARVA:


First-instar larva of Marumba saishiuana formosana, Taiwan. Photo: © Stefan Wils. Second-instar larva of Marumba saishiuana formosana, Taiwan. Photo: © Stefan Wils. Third-instar larva of Marumba saishiuana formosana, Taiwan. Photo: © Stefan Wils.

PUPA:

Larval hostplants. Meliosma rigida (Sabiaceae) growing as an evergreen understorey shrub in deciduous woodland.


PARASITOIDS


LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

Taiwan: Taipei Hsien (Fushan); Hualien Hsien (Taroko National Park); Nantou Hsien (Puli; Dongpu, 1200m); Kaohsiung Hsien (Shanping, 640m); Taitung Hsien; ??Gold Mountain.


GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Endemic to Taiwan.


Global distribution of Marumba saishiuana formosana. Map: © NHMUK.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION


Return to Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic species list
© A. R. Pittaway & I. J. Kitching (Natural History Museum, London)