Andraca theae Matsumura 1909
Creators: name: Wu, Shipher
name: Chang, Wei-Chun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Bombycidae
Andraca
Andraca theae

description: Andraca theae (Matsumura, 1909)
(Figs 1–6, 12–14, 18, 19, 22–24, 27–31)
Oreta theae Matsumura, 1909, Thous. Ins. Japan 1: 134, pl. 13, fig. 10.
Andraca bipunctata: Shiraki, 1919: 666; Matsumura, 1921: 933, pl. 64, f. 6. 6; Miyata, 1970: pl. 56: figs 2, 6, 7, 17, pl. 57: figs 6, 7, 15, 16, nec Walker, 1865.
Andraca bipunctata var. theae Matsumura, 1921, Thous. Ins. Japan Addit. 4: 933.
Andraca bipunctata f. theae Matsumura, 1931, 6000 Ill. Ins. Japan: 734.
Andraca theae: Miyata, 1979: 656, figs 2, 4, 6, 8; Kishida, 1992: 154; Wang, 1995: 19, figs, (part); Lin, 2005: 28, fig. 2: E–H; Wang et al., 2015: 65 (part), figs. 24C, 25B, pl. 8, figs F, G.
Type material examined. Lectotype, male, Formosa [= TAIWAN], Beipu (HUM)(Fig 1). Additional material examined. TAIWAN. 1 male, same collecting data as the lectotype (HUM); 2 males, 2 females, Taihoku [= Taipei], 20–II–1918, leg. J. Sonan (HUM); 1 male, Taipei, Wulai, 1966 (NSMT); 1 female, Taipei, Taipei Botanical Garden, 25–VI–1983, leg. Y. Z. Chang, slide TFRI 59634; 1 male, Ilan Co., Fushan, 23–XI–1995, leg. Y. B. Fan, abdomen missing (TFRI); 1 male, Taipei Ci., Yangmingshan, 25–VIII–1990, leg. Y. B. Fan, abdomen missing (TFRI); 1 female, Taipei Ci., Zhongyungshan, 200 m, 28–VI–2014, leg. S. Wu & W. C. Chang (TFRI); 1 female, Taipei Ci., Jingmei, Xianjiyen, 50 m, 17–IV–2016, leg. S. Wu & W. C. Chang (TFRI); 1 male, Taipei Co. [= New Taipei Ci.], Xinxian, 20–X–1989, leg. Y. B. Fan, abdomen missing (TFRI); 2 males, New Taipei Ci., Fushiping, emgd. 28–30–III–2014, reared from Symplocos chinensis (TFRI); 1 male, same collecting data, slide TFRI120048 (TFRI); 1 female, same collecting data (TFRI); 1 male, New Taipei Ci., Xiongkong, emgd. 5–VIII–2016, reared from Camellia sinensis, leg. S. Wu & W. C. Chang (TFRI); 1 female, New Taipei Ci., Xiongkong, emgd. 11–X– 2016, reared from Camellia sinensis, leg. S. Wu & W. C. Chang (TFRI); 2 females, Taoyuan Co., Guishan, emgd. 22–VII–2008, reared from Camellia sinensis, leg. S. Wu (TFRI); 1 male, Taoyuan, Lalashan, 24–IV–2000, ex. B. Tanaka coll., slide NSMT –SW1044 (NSMT); 1 male, same collecting data, slide NSMT–SW1046 (NSMT); 1 male, Nantou, Nanshanchi, 5–VIII–1995, ex. B. Tanaka coll., slide NSMT – SW1045 (NSMT); 1 male, Nantou, Shihtsaitou, 14–VII–1995, ex B. Tanaka coll., 1 male, same locality, 17–VIII–1998, ex B. Tanaka coll. (NSMT); 3 males, 2 females, Chiayi Co., Nanliao, emgd. 20–XII–2012, reared from Adinandra formosana var. formosana, leg. Z. B. Xie (TFRI); CHINA: 1 male, Guangxi, Guilin, Mao’ershan, 1400 m, 19–VIII–2009, leg. M. Wang et al. (NSMT); 1 female, Guangdong, Shaoguan, Nanling, 700–1200 m, 29–31–III–2003, leg. Wang et al., slide NSMT – SW1049 (NSMT); 1 male, same collecting locality, 800–1200 m, 23–25–IV–2004, leg. Wang et al., slide NSMT– SW1048 (NSMT); 1 male, same collecting locality, 800–1400 m, 5–11–IX–2005, leg. Wang et al., slide NSMT– SW1047 (NSMT).
Taxonomic notes. Matsumura (1909) described Oreta theae in the family Drapenidae without type designation, the only plate illustrated is a female. Shiraki (1911: 48) placed O. theae under the name " Pseudoeupterote bipunctata Shir. [sic]" in the family Eupterotidae. The authorship of the listed scientific name is apparently Walker, 1865. Based on the accompanied Japanese common name "Futatenkagiba", the species can be regarded as the misidentification of O. theae. The generic name, Pseudoeupterote, can be considered available under the Code (ICZN articles 12.2.5), and the type species is Oreta theae Matsumura, 1909, which was long considered a synonym of A. bipunctata. Miyata (1979) stated that the Taiwanese population is specifically different from Himalayan A. bipunctata (though his A. bipunctata should be the misidentification of A. trilochoides trilochoide Walker, 1865), and revalidated the species name, Andraca theae to the former. Wang et al. (2012) designated a male as the lectotype of Oreta theae from HUM.
Diagnosis. See the diagnosis part of following species.
Distribution and bionomics. This species is distributed in Taiwan, southeastern China (Anhui, Hunan and Guangdong) and Nepal (Wang et al., 2015). In Taiwan, the populations can be frequently found in planted tea garden and the larvae are regarded as a serious pest of new tea leaves especially in May. The nature populations occur infrequently in low to mid-elevation forests, primarily ranging from 100 to 1000m and there is one record from Lalashan, northeastern Taiwan, about 1500m, where a tea garden is distributed. Adults appear from February to November. The recorded host plants consist of Adinandra formosana var. formosana, Camellia sinensis, Ca.
formosensis, Ca. tenuifolia, Cleyera ochnacea, Eurya japonica, Gordonia axillaris (all Theaceae)(Wang, 1995; Lin, 2005; Wang et al., 2015) and a probably inccorrect record on Melastoma candidum (Melastomataceae) by Sonan (1937). The recent study adds E. loquaiana and the first record on the family Symplocaceae, i.e. Symplocos chinensis, as hostplants. The detailed morphology and ethology of the immature stage have been given by Lin (2005).
description: Published as part of Wu, Shipher & Chang, Wei-Chun, 2016, Andraca yauichui sp. n., a new species endemic to mid elevation forests of Taiwan (Bombycidae sensu lato, Lepidoptera), pp. 515-522 in Zootaxa 4200 (4) on pages 516-518, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4200.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/191589