RHAGASTIS MONGOLIANA (Butler, [1876])

TAXONOMY

Pergesa mongoliana Butler, [1876] 1875, Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1875: 622. Type locality: "Nankow Pass between China and Mongolia" [this is the rail pass through the Great Wall, northwest of Beijing; the 'Mongolia' referred to is Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol)].

Note. Rhagastis mongoliana centrosinaria Chu & Wang is a synonym of Rhagastis albomarginatus dichroae Mell (Kitching & Cadiou, 2000).

ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Wingspan: 47--63mm.

ADULT BIOLOGY

A woodland species in the Russian Far East, with females active from 23.10h until 01.30h, males from 00.20h until 02.30h (Izerskiy, 1999b).

FLIGHT-TIME

China: v-viii (Jiangxi); 23-24.v (Zhejiang); 25.v (Shanghai); 29.v-2.vi (Hunan); 24.vi.-11.vii (Zhejiang); 10.viii (Fengning, north of Beijing); 14.viii (Zhejiang). South Korea: 12.vii. Japan: 1.v-10.vii (Yakushima); 15.v-27.vi (Honshu; Kyushu; Shikoku); 15.vii-31.viii (Takushima; Honshu). Russia: 22.vi-1.viii (Primorskiy Kray).

In northeastern China, there are two generations a year, with adults flying between late April and August (Yang, 1978). Larvae are usually found in June and September (Chu et al., 1979).

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

EARLY STAGES

OVUM: 1.5 x 2.00mm.

LARVA: Full-fed 47--84mm.

PUPA:

Larval hostplants. Recorded in China on Berberis, Cayratia, Impatiens, Polygonum and Vitis (Mell, 1922b; Yang, 1978; Chu & Wang, 1980). Records on Hedera nepalensis var. sinensis (Yang, 1978) and Viburnum macrocephalum (Wang, 1992) are certainly erroneous.

Recorded in Japan on Cayratia japonica, Impatiens balsamina (Nozakai & Miyata, 1989), Zantedeschia aethiopica and Parthenocissus tricuspidata.

Recorded in Korea on Impatiens balsamina and Galium verum var. asiaticum (Park et al., 1999).

Recorded from the Russian Far East on Vitis amurensis (Izerskiy, 1999b).

Recorded elsewhere on Cissus, Damnacanthus, Galium, Oenothera and Parthenocissus.

PARASITOIDS

Ichneumonidae: Amblyjoppa cognatoria (Smith). Tachinidae: Exorista sorbillans (Wiedemann).

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Heilongjiang; Beijing (Nankow Pass/Xuanhua); Shanxi (Taiyuan); Shanghai; Zhejiang (Tianmu Shan); Hubei (Lichuan); Sichuan (Kangding; Pengshui); Guizhou; Hunan (Hengshan; Cili); Jiangxi (Jiujiang); Fujian (Longqi Shan); Guangdong (Guangzhou); Guangxi; Hainan.

Taiwan: Taipei (Yangmingshan); Kaohsiung Hsien (Shanping); Nantou Hsien (Jenai); Tainan Hsien (Kuantzuling); Taipei Hsien (Fushan; Wulai).

Mongolia.

North Korea: Kangwon Prov. (Keumgang-san); Kyonggi Prov. (Gaeseong/Kaesong).

South Korea: Widespread in Seoul; Kyonggi Prov.; Kangwon Prov.; North Chungchong Prov.; South Chungchong Prov.; North Cholla Prov.; South Cholla Prov.; North Kyongsang Prov.; South Kyongsang Prov.; Cheju Prov.

Japan: Honshu (Tokyo; Nashimoto; Yokohama; Mikaboyama, 750m; Yunotaira Spa; Nii-jima; Ikura; Bushi; Akana; Ohara); Shikoku (Chunan; Shioemachi); Kyushu (Kitakyushu; Mt. Takakuma); Yakushima (Aikodake; Kuromidake; Kusukawa; Miyanoura); Tsushima (Izuhara).

Russia: Primorskiy Kray (Kaymanovka; Vladivostok; Jankowski Peninsula; Khasan; Primorskiy; Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve).

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Found throughout China, north to Mongolia, Korea and Primorskiy Kray, Russia, and east to Taiwan and Japan.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION

Holarctic; eastern Palaearctic region.