Trilocha varians Walker 1855

21. Trilocha varians (Walker, 1855) (FIGURES 13 C–13G)

Naprepa varians Walker, 1855, Cat. Lep. Het. Br. M. 5: 1153. TL: [Ceylon] “ Ceylon and Hong Kong ”. Syntype: male (BMNH) [examined].

Chazena velata Walker, 1869, Char. Undescr. Het.: 21. TL: “Limas”.

Trilocha varians: Kirby, 1892, A synonymic catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera 1: 718.

Ocinara velata: Hampson, [1893], Fauna Brit. India, Moths 1: 35.

Ocinara varians: Hampson, [1893], Fauna Brit. India: 35; Strand, 1922, in Seitz, Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde: 437; Roepke, 1924, Tijdschr. Ent., 67: 170; Grünberg, 1911, in Seitz, Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 2: 170; Chu & Wang, 1996, Fauna Sinica Insecta, 5: 38.

Diagnosis. This species is very similar to T. friedeli, but can be distinguished by the following characters: forewing with a kidney-shaped spot in the discal cell; saccus basally constricted; aedeagus slightly bent near the apex; long processes on anterior margin of 8th sternite closer together

Specimens examined. [TAIWAN] Taitung County: 1 male, 3 km west of Hungyeh village, 350 m, 5.XI.1996, 22˚28’N, 120˚52’E, T.Csovari & C.Szaboky leg. (MWM); 2 males, Chihpen Hot Springs, 400 m, 10–11.VI.1997, T.Herczig and L. Ronkay leg. (MWM); 1 male, 7 km E of Taimali, 710 m, 11–12.VI.1997, 22˚41’N, 120˚56’E, T.Szaboky & I.Soos leg. (MWM); 1 male, 5 km W Chipen, 350 m, 15–16.V.1997, M.Laszlo & G.Laszlo leg. (MWM); Hualien County: 1 male, 3 km W Hua-Juan, 150 m, 2.VII.1996, T.Csorba & L.Nemeth leg. (MWM); Pingtung County: 1 male, Hengchun, 27.V.2000, Daniel Anstine leg. (TFRI); Yunlin County: 1 male, Douliu, 25.I.1992, Yi-Bin Fan leg. (TFRI); Taipei City (Taipei Botanic Garden): 1 male, 20.XI-1983, Yu-Chen Chang leg. (TFRI); 1 male, 20.II.1991, Yi-Bin Fan leg. (TFRI); 2 males, 28.XI.1963, Yu-Chen Chang leg. (TFRI); 1 male, 22.X.1964, Yu-Chen Chang leg. (TFRI); Hsinchu City: 4 males, 24.XII.1984, Yu-Chen Chang leg. (TFRI); [GUANGDONG] Guangzhou City: 1 male, campus of South China Agricultural University, 9.V.2003, Guo-Hua Huang leg. (SCAU); 1 male, Baiyunshan Garden, 21.V.2004, larva collected and reared by Guo-Hua Huang, adult eclosed on June 14 (SCAU); 1 male, campus of South China Agricultural University, 1.XII.2005, Hai-Ying Ou fed. (SCAU); 5 males, campus of South China Agricultural University, 3.V.2006, Jing Gong fed. (SCAU); Foshan City: 1 female, Foshan Garden, 23.VI.2003, Liu-Sheng Chen leg. (SCAU); Qujiang County: 1 male and 1 female, Qujiang Service Area, 23.VI.2003, Guo-Hua Huang leg. (SCAU); [GUANGXI] Jingxi County: 1 male, Renzhuang Village, 31.VII.2007, Liu-Sheng Chen leg. (SCAU); [HAINAN] Wuzhishan City: 1 male, Mt. Atuoling, 23.X.2006, Min Wang, Zhen Li & Guo-Hua Huang leg. (HUNAU); 5 males, Wuzhishan Mts., 18˚53’N, 109˚43’E, 20.II–10.IV.2001, local collector leg. (MWM); Baisha County (Yinggeling National NR): 2 males, Daoyin Village, 4.XII.2005, Min Wang & Wei Xiong leg. (SCAU); Wenchang County (Bawangling National NR): 1 male, 25.V.2006, Liu-Sheng Chen leg. (HUNAU); [YUNNAN] Mojiang County: 1 male, Tongguan Town, 29.XII.2006, Min Wang leg. (SCAU); Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture: 1 male, Puwen, 30 km SSW Simao, 900 m, 16.III–10.IV.2000, 22˚30’N, 100˚02’E, Brechlin’s local collector leg. (MWM); Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture: 1 male, 10 km west Yunxian/ Daxing, 120 km west of Dali city, Lincang district, 1200 m, 16.III–10.IV.2000, 24˚30’N, 100˚01’E, Brechlin’s local collector leg. (MWM).

Bionomics. The larvae feed on Ficus carica Linn., 1753, Ficus microcarpa Linn., 1781, Streblus spp. and Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam., 1789 (all Moraceae). Adults are on the wing throughout the year in Taiwan (Plate 5B–5E) and Guangdong (Plate 5F). Lin (2005) recorded that young larvae are gray with large subdorsal black spots on A2, and a short fleshy curved horn on A8. Mature larvae were dull brown, mottled paler dorsally and dark brown laterally, and with a purplish-brown double dorsal hump on A2 and a similar but smaller one on A5 (Plate 5G). The cocoon is boat-shaped, closely woven with white or yellow, rather-papery silk (Plate 5H). The pupa is pale yellow and thinly chitinized (Holloway, 1987). The pupa of T. varians is often parasitized by tachinid flies (Plate 6A–6D).

Distribution. Mainland China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan), Taiwan and Hainan Islands, southern Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, India including the Andaman islands, Sri Lanka.

Remarks. Holloway (1987) reported that this species was widely distributed in the Oriental Region. It is an important pest of ornamental plants (Huang et al., 2002; Rajavel & Shanthi, 2007), and so its biological characters and control have been the subject of several recent works (Ou et al., 2006; Hussain et al., 2009).