RHAGASTIS ALBOMARGINATUS DICHROAE Mell, 1922

Female Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae. Photo: © BMNH Male Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae. Photo: © BMNH

TAXONOMY

Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae Mell, 1922, Dt. ent. Z. 1922: 120. Type locality: China, Kuangtung [Guangdong].


ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION


Adult Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae, Jiucai Ling, Guizhou, China. Photo: © Viktor Sinjaev. Adult Rhagastis albomarginatus albomarginatus, Thailand. Photo: © Ian Kitching

ADULT BIOLOGY


FLIGHT-TIME

China: ii-xi (Guangdong); iii-x (Hong Kong); iii (Guangxi); iv (Guizhou); iv-viii (Zhejiang); viii (Sichuan; Yunnan).

Kendrick (2002) states that this common species may be quadrivoltine in Hong Kong during late March to early April, mid May to late June, late July to mid August, and in early October.


EARLY STAGES

OVUM:

LARVA:


4th-instar larva of Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae on <i>Dichroa febrifuga</i>, Hong Kong, China. Photo: © Kent H. K. Li.

PUPA:


Pupa of Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae. Image: Mell, 1922b Pupa of Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae. Image: Mell, 1922b

Larval hostplants. Vernicia montana (Euphorbiaceae) and Dichroa febrifuga (Hydrangeaceae; Li, pers. comm. 2002) in Hong Kong.


PARASITOIDS


LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Zhejiang (Mogan Shan; Tianmu Shan); Sichuan (Guan Xian); ?Yunnan (Changning Co., Songzhishanding, 2800m); Guizhou (Jiucai Ling); Guangdong (Lianping; Guangzhou); Hong Kong; Guangxi (Bamian, Jiajiu Shan); Hainan.

The record from Yunnan is suspect. The specimen in question is more likely to have been Rhagastis albomarginatus albomarginatus.


GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Endemic to China.


Global distribution of Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae. Map: © BMNH.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION


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