Hymenia perspectalis Hubner 1796

Hymenia perspectalis (Hübner, 1796)

Figs 22, 23, 106, 152

Pyralis perspectalis Hübner, 1796: 18.

Hymenia perspectalis (Hübner): Parkin et al., 1972: 104. ‒ Linsley, 1977: 37. ‒ Peck et al., 1998: 227. ‒ Causton et al., 2006: 141. ‒ Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2015.

Material examined: 13 ♂, 32 ♀, 22 of undetermined sex from the Galápagos Islands: – Española: Bahía Manzanillo; Las Tunas Trail, 100 m elev[ation]. – Fernandina: SW side, crater rim, GPS: 1341 m elev., S 00° 21.910’, W 91° 34.034’. – Isabela: Tagus Cove; ± 15 km N P[uer]to Villamil; V[olcan]. Darwin, 300 m elev.; Albermarle, San[to] Tomas, 1200 f[ee]t; V. Darwin, 630 m elev.; V. Darwin, 1000 m elev.; Alcedo, lado NE, 1100 m, cumbre, caseta Cayot. – Pinta: ± 15 m elev.; 200 m elev.; 400 m elev. – San Cristóbal: La Toma, ca. 6.5 km east El Progreso, GPS: 299 m elev., S 00° 55.356’, W 89° 31.089’. – Santa Cruz: Charles Darwin Research Station; Bahía Conway; low agriculture zone, GPS: S 00°42.132’, W 90° 19.156’; Finca Vilema, 2 km W Bella Vista; Horneman Farm, 200 m; Horneman Farm, 220 m; Los Gemelos. – Santiago: San Salvador, Bahia James; Bahía Espumilla; N side, GPS: 147 m elev., S 00° 12.186’, W 090° 42.888’; 200 m elev.; N side, GPS: 437 m elev., S 00° 13.316’, W 090° 43.808’; Aguacate [camp], 520 m elev.; NE side, close to Caseta, GPS: 686 m elev., S 00°14.177’, W 90°44.619’; Central [camp], 700 m elev.; Jaboncillo [camp], ± 850 m elev.. Deposited in AMNH, BMNH, CAS, CDRS, CNC, and MHNG.

Diagnosis: Quite variable in size, with a wingspan between 15 and 21 mm, this dark brown species (Figs 22, 23) is most similar to Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius) (Fig. 63), which is somewhat paler brown. Their white markings differ in the forewing by the thin median fascia from the dorsum not touching the discocellular stigma in H. perspectalis, wider and touching the discocellular stigma in S. recurvalis, and on the hindwing by the thin fascia presenting a median bilobed projection medially on the external margin in H. perspectalis compared to the wider and evenly margined fascia of S. recurvalis. Cryptobotys zoilusalis (Walker) (Figs 10, 11) also has white to cream fasciae, but these are very thin and that of the hindwing doesn’t have a bilobed projection medially.

Biology: Reputed to be polyphagous, this species has been reared on host plants in the family Amaranthaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Balsaminaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae, Liliaceae, Scrophulariaceae, and Solanaceae (Robinson et al., 2014). Galápagos specimens have been collected from February until May in all altitudinal zones, up to the top of volcanoes, such as at 1341 m on Fernandina, in a diverse range of habitats.

Distribution: Based on specimens in the BMNH and MHNG this species is widespread in the Western Hemisphere from the USA to Argentina and the West Indies, but it occurs also in tropical and subtropical locales of Africa (De Prins & De Prins, 2015) and India (Robinson et al., 2014) and other islands such as Aldabra in the Indian Ocean (Shaffer & Munroe, 2007). Widespread in the Galápagos, it has been found so far on the seven islands listed above.

Remarks: I confirmed the identification of Galápagos specimens by comparing them with the original description and specimens in the BMNH. The type material pertaining to this species is lost, but the illustration in the original description (pl. 16 fig. 101) provided by Hübner leaves no doubt as to the identity of this species. The type locality is recorded as England, but the species is not resident in Europe, nor a regular migrant (Slamka, 2013; Nuss et al., 2016).