Spoladea recurvalis Fabricius 1775
Creators: name: Bernard Landry
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Pyralidae
Spoladea
Spoladea recurvalis

description: Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius, 1775)
Figs 63, 130, 176
Phalaena recurvalis Fabricius, 1775: 644.
Zinckenia fascialis Cramer: Schaus, 1923: 28.
Hymenia recurvalis (Fabricius): Linsley & Usinger, 1966: 162.
Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius): Peck et al., 1998: 227. ‒ Causton et al., 2006: 141. ‒ Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2015.
Material examined: 5 ♂, 7 ♀, 43 of undetermined sex from the Galápagos Islands. – Española: Bahía Manzanillo; Las Tunas trail, 100 m elev[ation]. – Floreana: Punta Cormoran; Charles [no precise locality]. – Isabela: Albermarle, Cobea [?] Settlement; V[olcan]. Darwin, 300 m elev.; NE slope Alcedo, ca. 400 m up (S) Los Guayabillos camp, GPS: 892 m elev., S 00° 25.208’, W 91° 04.765’; V. Darwin, 1000 m elev. – San Cristóbal: Chatham [no precise locality]. – Santa Cruz: Academy Bay, Charles Darwin Research Station; Charles Darwin Research Station; Horneman Farm, 200 m; Horneman Farm, 220 m elev.; [no precise locality], reared from larva ex Sesuvium portulacastrum. – Santiago: Jaboncillo [camp], ± 850 m elev. Deposited in BMNH, CAS, CDRS, MCZ, and MHNG.
Diagnosis: Measuring between 17 and 21 mm in wingspan in the Galápagos this species is most similar to Hymenia perspectalis (Hübner) (Figs 22, 23) and Cryptobotys zoilusalis (Walker) (Figs 10, 11), both treated above. Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius) (Fig. 63) is somewhat paler brown than H. perspectalis. Their white markings differ in the forewing by the wide median fascia from the dorsum touching the discocellular stigma in S. recurvalis, thin and not touching the discocellular stigma in H. perspectalis, and on the hindwing by the wide and evenly margined fascia of S. recurvalis compared to the thin fascia presenting a median bilobed projection medially on the external margin in H. perspectalis. Cryptobotys zoilusalis (Walker) also has white to cream fasciae, but these are very thin.
Biology: The larva of this species is polyphagous and has been recorded on a wide variety of plants, for example Aizoaceae (Trianthema sp.), Amaranthaceae (Alternanthera sp., Amaranthus sp., Celosia sp., Gomphrena sp.), Arecaceae [Chrysalidocarpus (= Dypsis) sp.], Asteraceae (Chrysanthemum sp., Eupatorium sp.), Chenopodiaceae (Beta sp., Chenopodium sp.), Convolvulaceae (Ipomoea sp.), Fabaceae (Glycine sp., Vigna sp.), Nyctaginaceae (Boerhavia sp.), Poaceae (Zea sp.), Portulacaceae (Portulaca sp., Spinacia sp.), Solanaceae (Lycopersicon sp.), etc. (Robinson et al., 2014). In the CDRS collection there is a pair of specimens associated with a number 69, which refers to a notebook entry mentioning Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L. and Portulaca oleraceae L. (Aizoaceae) as hosts in the Galápagos. Moths in the archipelago have been collected from sea level up to 1000 m in elevation in pristine as well as anthropized habitats, from February to May and in December.
Distribution: Based on the literature (for example De Prins & De Prins, 2015; Shaffer & Munroe, 2007; Zimmerman, 1958) and museum specimens this species is widespread around the world under warm climates, but it is also probably resident in Southern Europe and occasionally reaches northern Europe (Slamka, 2013) and south-eastern Canada (Patterson et al., 2015). In the Galápagos it has been collected on the islands of Española, Floreana, Isabela, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, and Santiago.
Remarks: I have identified a Galápagos specimen of this species by comparing it with BMNH identified material, including the types of some of its synonyms. The type was not examined as it is lost (Clarke, 1986).
description: Published as part of Bernard Landry, 2016, Taxonomic revision of the Spilomelinae (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae s. l.) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, pp. 315-399 in Revue suisse de Zoologie 123 (2) on pages 387-389, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.155309