Thriponea nigrostrigata Bethune-Baker, 1905)
(one synonym : Barasa orthosticha Turner, 1920)
SARROTHRIPINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Thriponea nigrostrigata
early instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

The Caterpillar of this species initially is greenish-brown, with a swollen thorax covered in white dots.

Thriponea nigrostrigata
later instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

Later instars develop a pale yellow line along each side and across the back of the final segment, and the thorax becomes less swollen. The whole animal becomes covered in white spots. The caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Limeberry (Micromelum minutum, RUTACEAE).

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    final instar
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

    Final instars have a regular size thorax. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 2 cms.

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    pupa in opened cocoon
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

    The pupa is brown with a length of about 1.5 cms. The caterpillar pupates in a cocoon formed in ground debris.

    Thriponea nigrostrigata

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    (Photos: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

    The adult moth has greenish-brown forewings, each with a pale wiggly subterminal line, and a triangular dark mark on the costa of each forewing.

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, listed as Platyprosopa nigrostrigata)

    The hindwings are pale brown, with dark veins. The wingspan is about 3.5 cms.

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    male, drawing by George Thomas Bethune-Baker, listed as Argyrothripa nigrostrigata
    ,
    Notes on a small collection of Heterocera from the Fiji Islands, with descriptions of some new species,
    Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1905, Part 1, Plate 8, fig. 4,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The species has been found in south-east Asia and across the Pacific, including

  • Fiji (listed as Argyrothripa nigrostrigata),
  • Sumatra (listed as Platyprosopa nigrostrigata),
  • New Guinea (listed as Giaura nigrostrigata),

    and also in Australia in

  • Queensland.

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    female, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Checupa nigrostrigata,

    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume VII (1908), Plate CX, figure 21,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    Thriponea nigrostrigata
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    George Thomas Bethune-Baker,
    Notes on a small collection of Heterocera from the Fiji Islands, with descriptions of some new species,
    Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
    1905, Part 1, p. 93.


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    (updated 25 October 2011, 15 August 2019, 21 September 2021)