Lepidoptera Science

The genus Calicha was established by MOORE (1888) for the reception of a new species, retrahens MOORE from Darjeeling, India. HAMPSON (1895) sank the genus as a junior synonym of Boarmia TREITSCHKE, and later INOUE (1953) restored it for ornataria LEECH and its near allies. My close examination of some Asiatic species formerly assigned to Calicha and those preestimated by me to be congeneric revealed that they form a compact natural group together with two Japanese species which had previously been placed in Boarmia, with the exception of one species which will be transferred to other genus. In this paper four species of Calicha will be redescribed and one new genus Microcalicha will be erected to receive three species formerly assigned to Calicha or Boarmia. In larval descriptions, the terminology for the setae is based on HINTON's (1946) system. The thoracic and abdominal segments are referred to by the abbreviations T and A, respectively.

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The genus Bacotia was erected by TUTT (1899) for a single European species, Fumea sepium SPEYER. DIERL (1966) described a second species of this genus, B. nepalica DIERL, from Nepal. No further species have been known in the world. In this paper I will describe a third species from Japan, with brief notes on biology.

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The late Prof. S. MATSUMURA described many species of Microlepidoptera from Japan in his "6000 illustrated insects of Japan" published in 1931. Until now, many of these forms have been reviewed in the light of recent taxonomic knowledge, but some ones have remained untouched. During the course of preparation of the glyphipterygid volume in "Microlepidoptera Palaearctica", Dr. A. DIAKONOFF examined the holotype of Simaethis sapporensis MATSUMURA, one of Glyphipterygids described inMATSUMURA's publication mentioned above. He informed Mr. Y. ARITA of his view that this form should not be referred to the Glyphiterygidae but to the Olethreutinae of the Tortricidae. On the other hand, I found a peculiar olethreutine form in northern Japan, which I consider to represent an undescribed genus. Mr. ARITA kindly sent me a coloured photograph of the type specimen of S. sapporensis with a copy of a fine drawing of its genitalia made by Mr. J. J. A. M. WESSENDORP. After referring to those illustrations, I am convinced that the peculiar olethreutine species, which I was just studying, is exactly conspecific with S. sapporensis. In accordance with the recommendation by Mr. ARITA, I will take this opportunity to redescribe S. sapporensis, and erect a new genus of the Tortricidae for the reception of this interesting form. Before going further, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. A. DIAKONOFF, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, for his suggestion and kind permission for the use in this article of the elaborate genitalic drawing by Mr. J. J. A. M. WASSENDORP of the same museum. Thanks are also due to Mr. Y. ARITA, Meijo University, Nagoya, and Dr. T. KUMATA, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, for their provision of informations about the type specimen, and to Mr. F. KOMAI, University of Osaka Prefecture, Sakai, for supplying some specimens for the study.

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The author noticed that the newly-hatched larvae of Luehdorfia japonica (hereafter referred to as LJ) and Luehdorfia puziloi (LP) behave differently when they start their very first meal. He then observed a number of egg batches of these species both in the wild and in captivity for comparison of patterns of behavior of newly-hatched larvae until they start feeding. 1. After hatching from the eggs normally deposited on the underside of a fresh leaf of the foodplant, LJ larvae crawl away to the basal margin of the leaf and start feeding near the petiole, while LP larvae take their first meal without wandering away from the site of oviposition, showing no preference for the basal margin. LP larvae from eggs experimentally transferred to LJ's local foodplant, Asarum takaoi, did not crawl to the basal margin but behaved as if on their natural foodplant, Asarum Sieboldii; the opposite experiment, however, brought divergent results, with some groups of LJ larvae behaving normally and others feeding in the normal LP fashion. LJ larvae, newly hatched or otherwise transferred to a new leaf, mostly chose the basal margin close to the petiole as the site of initial feeding. Thus, the difference in the choice of the initial feeding site between the two species appears to be due to a hereditary factor. 2. Both species lay eggs in batches, and the larvae lead a gregarious life so long as possible. In LJ, it is usually the first to hatch that plays the role of a leader to guide the others in the clutch to the initial feeding site. The second to hatch can occasionally be the leader. In either case, the leader crawls on until it comes across a vein, which is ridged on the underside. This the larva follows and ultimately reaches, by trial and error, the basal margin. It crawls about the petiole and descends a little along it, but returns to the basal margin and start feeding. The leader spins his way throughout, and the larvae to follow evidently take the same silk trail, strengthening it while walking. It is possible that the larvae's silk carries some pheromone that helps in their gregarious behavior. Once the first few larvae have established a feeding site, those hatching later in the same egg batch go to the feeding site without hesitation. 3. Why the newly-hatched LJ larvae are attracted to the basal margin of the leaf close to the petiole is not quite clear. One of the reasons may be that the larvae, through wandering near or on the petiole, confirm the route by which to reach another suitable food leaf.

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