Pangrapta hylaxalis

Appearance

It has a dark brown triangular mark on the costa distal to the postmedial, but the markings are generally more untidy and the forewing reniform and orbicular are ringed or highlighted with white. The area distal to the hindwing postmedial does not have such a conspicuous dark brown ‘mountain range’, though this zone is darker and bounded distad by a more regularly dentate greenish band.

The species is unusual in the genus in having the phragma lobes anterior to the second abdominal tergite vestigial. The male genitalia have an uncus as in parsimonalis, but the valves are lens-shaped. The aedeagus vesica is broad, without diverticula or ornamentation (but see the related species next). The eighth segment of the abdomen appears unmodified. The female has the eighth segment densely setose. The corpus bursae is generally scobinate, with a longitudinal strip of sclerotisation with coarser scobination

Distribution

Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra (HS / K), Nias, Java

Habitat

This is a common species, found in forest from the lowlands to 1930m.

Reproduction

The larvae live on the developing red leaves of the host plant (see Pleurona falcata on p. 314) and are red-tinged when younger. Pupation is in a silken cell on the ground.

Food

The host plant is Hymenodictyon (Rubiaceae)