PSILOGRAMMA INCRETA (Walker, [1865])

Female Psilogramma increta. Photo: © BMNH Male Psilogramma increta. Photo: © BMNH

TAXONOMY

Anceryx increta Walker, [1865], List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln. Br. Mus. 31: 36. Type locality: [China,] Shanghai.


ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Wingspan: 90--122mm.


Adult male Psilogramma increta, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Photo: © Tony Pittaway Adult male Psilogramma increta, Beijing, China. Photo: © Tony Pittaway Adult Psilogramma increta (heavily marked), Thailand. Photo: © Ian Kitching Adult Psilogramma increta, Taiwan. Photo: © Felix Lin.

ADULT BIOLOGY

A species of open parkland, city suburbs and forest edge.


FLIGHT-TIME

China: v-vii (Sichuan); 19.v (Shanghai); vi (Yunnan; Hainan); 30.vi (Zhejiang); vii (Liaoning; Shanghai); 20.vii (Shaanxi); viii (Hubei); 25.viii-19.ix (Shanghai); ix (Shaanxi); 18-21.ix-x (Hong Kong). Taiwan: vii-ix (Pingtung Hsien). South Korea: 6.vii (unstated locality). Japan: 27.v-2.vi (Ryukyu Archipelago); 12.vi-7.viii (Honshu; Tsushima); 17.viii-26.x (Honshu).

In northern China there are two generations per year, with adults flying in April-May and August-September (Yang, 1978).

Kendrick (2002) states that it is multivoltine in Hong Kong, occurring from March until late November in up to five generations.

Park et al. (1999) give early June until late August as the flight period in Korea.


EARLY STAGES

OVUM:

LARVA: Full-fed 69--110mm.

Generally a tree-feeding species, resting under the leaves on the lower branches of large-leaved trees, but along the twigs of terminal shoots if the tree is smaller leaved. Usually within 0.5-4m of the ground.


Full-grown green form larva of Psilogramma increta. Image: Mell, 1922b Full-grown brown form larva of Psilogramma increta. Image: Mell, 1922b Full-grown brown form larva of Psilogramma increta. Photo: Mell, 1922b Full-grown grey-green form larva of Psilogramma increta, Beijing, China. Photo: Tony Pittaway Full-grown green form larva of Psilogramma increta, Shanghai, China. Photo: Tony Pittaway Last instar mottled form larva of Psilogramma increta, Beijing, China. Photo: Tony Pittaway Last instar green form larva of Psilogramma increta, Taiwan. Photo: Felix Lin.

PUPA: 45--56mm. Reddish mahogany brown and glossy, but with a pronounced grey bloom at first; this rapidly wears off. Head projecting frontad, with a pronounced free tongue-case stretching one third the way down the wing cases. This has a bulbous tip. Wings smooth, abdominal segments mainly smooth but finely punctate around the leading edge. Spiracular ridges present on movable abdominal segments. Cremaster broadly triangular, dorso-ventrally flattened, with a double sharp point; tuberculate. Similar to that of Agrius convolvuli, but free tongue-case shorter and not reflexed. Formed in an almost silk-free cell in the soil. The overwintering stage.


Pupa of Psilogramma increta, Chengde, Hebei, China. Photo: © Tony Pittaway Pupa of Psilogramma increta, Taiwan. Photo: © Felix Lin.

Larval hostplants. Recorded in China on Campsis (as Tecoma), Catalpa, Clerodendrum, Dimocarpus, Firmiana, Fraxinus, Ligustrum, Melia, Meliosma, Olea, Osmanthus, Paulownia, Syringa and Vitex (Mell, 1922b; Yang, 1978; Chu et al., 1979; Wang, 1992), although some records may correctly refer to P. menephron (Cramer). The record on Platanus (Wang, 1992) is suspect. In 1995, the first author found larvae on Ligustrum lucidum in Anhui, and Li & Guo (1990) give Syringa for Shanxi. Kendrick (2002) gives Vitex negundo as the main hostplant in Hong Kong.

Recorded in Korea on Ligustrum obtusifolium, L. japonicum, Syringa reticulata, S. dilatata, Osmanthus fragrans, Clerodendrum tricotonum, Paulownia tomentosa, P. coreana and Quercus aliena (Park et al., 1999).

In Japan, recorded from Callicarpa dichotoma, Ligustrum japonicum, L. obtusifolium, Paulownia tomentosa, Perilla frutescens, Sesamum indicum and Viburnum dilatatum.

Elsewhere, larval hostplants are mostly from Oleaceae, Scrophulariaceae and Verbenaceae, with occasional records from a number of other families.


PARASITOIDS

Ichneumonidae: Quandrus pepsoides (Smith); Tachinidae: Drino atropivora Robineau-Desvoidy.


LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Liaoning (Dalian); Hebei (Chengde); Beijing (Haidian; Xiangshan); Shandong; Shanxi (Xiaxian); Shaanxi (Yangling; Daiwang Shan, 1380m); Henan; Shanghai; Zhejiang (Hangzhou; Ningbo; Siming Shan); Hubei (Yichang; Lichuan); Sichuan (Chengdu; Emei Shan); Yunnan (nr. Jinping, 2155m); Hunan (Dayong); Jiangxi; Fujian; Guangdong (Guangzhou); Hong Kong; Hainan.

Taiwan: Taitung; Taipei Hsien (Wulai); Taipei (Yangmingshan); Nantou Hsien (Jenai; Puli); Kaohsiung Hsien (Shanping; Chishan); Hualien Hsien; Tainan (Anping); Pingtung Hsien (Kenting; Sheting).

North Korea: Kangwon Prov. (Keumgang-san); North Hamgyong Prov. (Gyungsung); South Pyongan Prov. (Pyongyang).

South Korea: Seoul (Seoul; Nan-san); Kyonggi Prov. (Suwon; Gwangleung; Cheonma-san; Asan Bay; Myungji-san); Kangwon Prov. (Cheolwon; Hwacheon; Gojindong; Geonbong Temple; Seolak-san; Gangleung; Woljeong Temple; Sogumgang; Chiak-san; Hoengseong-dam; Donghae; Chuncheon; Bongmyung-ri; Odae-san; Hongcheon; Youngwol); North Chungchong Prov. (Songni-san; Chupungryung; Minjuji-san); South Chungchong Prov. (Gongju; Gyeryong-san); North Cholla Prov. (Jiri-san; Namwon; Muju); South Cholla Prov. (Baekyang Temple; MokpoJogye-san; Jin-do; Geumo-do; Yeon-do; Hong-do; Gurye; Yeocheon); North Kyongsang Prov. (Daegu; Sobaek-san; Juwang-san; Ulleung-do); South Kyongsang Prov. (Gibaek-san; Hwangsuk-san; Hamyang; Jinyang; Pusan; Jinju; Geoje-do; Goseong; Manhae; Sancheong; Hadong; Hapcheon); Cheju Prov. (Cheju-do; Halla-san; Seoguipo; Ora-dong; Ara-dong; Topyung; Susan-ri; Suakbong; Gwaneum Temple).

Japan: Hokkaido; Honshu (Gifu; Yokohama; Nashimoto; Shinshiro; Mikaboyama, 750m; Fujisawa; Bushi; Hachijyo Island); Shikoku; Kyushu (Kagoshima; Naze); Tsushima (Sasuna); Ryukyu Archipelago (Amamioshima; Okinawa; Iriomoteshima; Tanegashima; Yakushima).


GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Reliably recorded from northeastern China, Japan and Korea, south and east through China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Peninsular Malaysia, to the Greater Sunda Islands; then west through Burma/Myanmar, Nepal and India to Kashmir. It is possible that P. increta extends much further east through the Malay Archipelago and may even reach Australia and the Pacific islands. However, in these latter areas, the features of adult wing colour and pattern that farther west differentiate P. increta from the closely related species, P. menephron (Cramer), break down and it becomes impossible to reliably distinguish them on this basis. The two species are also identical in genital structure. Mell (1922b) described diagnostic features of larvae and pupae but these have yet to be investigated in eastern populations of Psilogramma.

The introduced population on Hawaii has now been confirmed as being P. increta, not P. menephron.


Global distribution of Psilogramma increta. Map: © BMNH.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION

Holarctic and Oriental; eastern Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Unknown.



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© A.R. Pittaway & I.J. Kitching (The Natural History Museum, London)