''Hyposidra talaca'', the black looper or black inch worm, is a
moth of the family
Geometridae. The species was first described by
Francis Walker in 1860. It is found from
India to
Indochina,
Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...
,
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
, the
Philippines,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, the
Solomon Islands, Thailand, Taiwan, New Guinea and Australia, where it has been recorded from Queensland. It is a major defoliating pest in tea plantations.
Description
The wingspan is about 30 mm. Female with outer margin of hindwings hardly crenulate. Male with outer margin of neither wing excised. Antennae pectinated. Hindwings with outer margin angled at vein 4. Body dark olive fuscous, more or less irrorated and suffused with grey. Both wings faint traces of medial and crenulate postmedial lines. The cilia dark. Forewings with traces of antemedial line and more or less distinct sub-apical patch in male. Underside with crenulate postmedial line to both wings.
Larva is a looper, with body pinkish olive green, irrorated with black, and with dark patches on 4th and 6th somites. Later instars are uniform brown.
The larvae feed on the foliage of a wide range of plants, including ''Anacardium'', ''Bombax'', ''Terminalia (plant), Terminalia'', ''Chromolaena'', ''Gynura'', ''Mikania'', ''Cupressus'', ''Aleurites'', ''Aporosa'', ''Bischofia'', ''Breynia'', ''Glochidion'', ''Hevea'', ''Manihot'', ''Ficus'', ''Morus (plant), Morus'', ''Psidium'', ''Polygonum'', ''Rubus'', ''Cinchona'', ''Coffea'', ''Mussaenda'', ''Citrus'', ''Euodia (plant), Euodia'', ''Schleichera'', ''Theobroma'', ''Perilla frutescens'', ''Camellia'' and ''Tectona'' species.
Eggs and caterpillars are largely susceptible for many parasitized hymenopterans, and birds.
Subspecies
*''Hyposidra talaca talaca''
*''Hyposidra talaca schistacea''
Warren, 1896
*''Hyposidra talaca successaria''
(Walker, 1860)
References
External links
Egg-laying pattern of ''Hyposidra talaca'' (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Northeastern Indian tea plantations: implications for pest managementFitness traits of the tea defoliator, ''Hyposidra talaca'' (Walker 1860) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) on natural and artificial diets in relation to gut enzymes and nutritional efficienciesRestriction endonuclease fragment analysis of ''Hyposidra talaca'' nucleopolyhedrovirus genomeMorphological diversity, developmental traits and seasonal occurrence of looper pests (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) of tea cropIn situ mortality of ''Hyposidra talaca'' (Geometridae: Lepidoptera) by its nucleopolyhedrovirus and comparison of tea production in untreated and chemical insecticide-treated plotsRange expansion of ''Hyposidra talaca'' (Geometridae: Lepidoptera), a major pest, to Northeastern Indian tea plantations: change of weather and anti-predatory behaviour of the pest as possible causesBio ecology and ecofriendly control of ''Hyposidra talaca'' walker Lepidoptera: Geometridae on some multipurpose tree speciesBiology of ''Hyposidra talaca''First record of ''Hyposidra talaca'' Walker (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) on ''Perilla frutescens'' Linn.
Boarmiini
Moths described in 1860
{{Boarmiini-stub