Amata nigriceps (Butler, 1876)

Butler, A. G. (1876). Notes on the Lepidoptera of the family Zygaenidae, with
descriptions of new genera and species. Journal of the Linnean Society of
London, Zoology 12: 342-407; p. 352 (as Hydrusa nigriceps).

3. H. nigriceps, n. sp.

Nearly allied to H. annulata, same size and general appearance; head entirely
black above, frons orange; thorax black, abdomen black narrowly banded with
orange: wings black, spotted with pale tawny hyaline; spots of primaries almost
precisely as in H. annulata; secondaries with only the basal two fifths pale
tawny, no black dot below origin of first median branch; postcellular bifid
spot very large: abdomen below having all the segments banded with orange as
above; wings as above: expanse 44 millims.
Hunter River (Macgillivray). Type, B.M.
As this occurs almost at the same spot with H. annulata, it is possible that
it may be a curious modification of that species.

Meyrick, E. (1886). Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the
Linnean Society of New South Wales (2) 1: 687-802; p. 783, no. 135 (as Hydrusa
annulata, with H. nigriceps in the synonymy).

135. Hydr. annulata, F.
(Zygaena annulata, F. E. S. 389; Syntomis annulata, Boisd. Zyg. 122, pl. VII,
8, pl. VIII, 2; Hydrusa cingulata, Butl., Journ. Linn. Soc. 1876, 352;
H. nigriceps, ib. 352.)
Male, female. 34-40 mm. Head orange, crown broadly black. Antennae black, apex
white. Thorax black. Abdomen orange, base of segments greenish-black. Fore
wings greenish-black; spots moderate, thinly scaled, orange; first
subquadrate; second trapezoidal; third irregular diamond-shaped; fourth
elongate, sometimes surmounted by a variable dot; fifth roundish. Hindwings
greenish-black; spots moderate, orange; first occupying basal third, outer
edge somewhat irregular, bisecting vein black; second irregular, upper section
smaller or nearly equal.
Maryborough, Queensland; Sydney, New South Wales; also from Tasmania; in
November, March, and April, common.

Hampson, G. F. (1898). Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British
Museum. Volume I. Catalogue of the Syntomidae in the collection of the British
Museum. Taylor and Francis, London; p. 72, no. 98 (as Syntomis annulata, with
nigriceps as Ab. 4).

98. Syntomis annulata.
Zygaena annulata, Fabr. Syst. Ent. p. 551 (1775); Boisd. Mon. Zyg. p. 122,
pl. 7. f. 8 & pl. 8. f. 2; Meyr. P. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) i. p. 783; Kirby,
Cat. Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa cingulata, Butl. Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xii. p. 352 (1876); Kirby,
Cat. Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa nigriceps, Butl. Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xii. p. 352 (1876); Kirby,
Cat. Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa intensa, Butl. Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xii. p. 353 (1876); Kirby,
Cat. Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa anepsia, Meyr. P. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) i. p. 779 (1886); Kirby, Cat.
Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa pyrocoma, Meyr. P. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) i. p. 780 (1886); Kirby, Cat.
Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa synedra, Meyr. P. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) i. p. 780 (1886); Kirby, Cat.
Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa hesperitis, Meyr. P. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) i. p. 781 (1886); Kirby,
Cat. Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa phepsalotis, Meyr. P. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) i. p. 784 (1886); Kirby,
Cat. Het. p. 101.
Hydrusa chroma, Swinh. Cat. Het. Mus. Oxon. p. 50 (1892).

Head and tegulae fulvous orange; palpi, antennae, and a band between their
bases black; thorax and abdomen black; metathorax and base of abdomen with
orange patches, the latter with six orange bands and the extremity orange;
wings black shot with metallic blue. Fore wing with rounded orange spots below
base and in end of cell; an oblique wedge-shaped spot below base of vein 2; an
elongate streak above vein 6, often with a short streak above vein 7 and speck
below vein 6; two spots between veins 3 and 5. Hind wing with an orange streak
in cell and large patch between median nervure and inner margin; two spots
between veins 2 and 5, sometimes connected with the basal patch and sometimes
with the upper spot reduced or absent.
Typical annulata is a large form, the antennae white at tips, the vertex of
head orange, and the spots of hind wing well separated.
Ab. 1. A small form with the spots of hind wing small and separate, the spot
above vein 3 minute or absent. (a) intensa, Meyr. (nec Butl.), hind wing with
small spot in base of cell; (b) phepsalotis, hind wing without spot in cell.
Antennae with the tips black.
Ab. 2. With a small spot on fore wing between veins 5 and 6. (a)
cingulata = synedra, abdomen with anal segment orange except at base; (b)
pyrocoma, abdomen with small orange spot on anal segment.
Ab. 3. intensa = hesperitis: without the spot between veins 5 and 6.
Ab. 4. nigriceps: with the vertex of head black.
Ab. 5. Hind wing with the spots conjoined, the vertex of head orange.
Ab. 6. chroma: a small form with the spots of hind wing conjoined.
Ab. 7. anepsia: abdomen with the terminal segment wholly black.
Hab. Philippines, Samboangan (J. J. Walker); N. Guinea (W. V. Turner);
Queensland, N. S. Wales: types cingulata (Gibbons), intensa and nigriceps
(Macgillivray), (Sinclair, Waller, Higlett, G. F. Mathew). Exp. 24-48 millim.

Turner, A. J. (1905). Revision of Australian Lepidoptera, II. Proceedings of
the Linnean Society of New South Wales 29: 832-863; p. 846, no. 19 (as Syntomis
annulata, with Hydrusa nigriceps in the synonymy).

19. Syntomis annulata.
Zygaena annulata, Fab., Syst. Ent. p. 551.
Hydrusa nigriceps, Butl., Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool. xii. p. 352.
Hydrusa intensa, Butl., op. cit. p. 353.
Hydrusa annulata, Meyr., Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, 1886, p. 783.
Hydrusa intensa, Meyr., op. cit. p. 784, nec Butl.
Syntomis annulata, Hmps., Cat. Lep. Phal. i. p. 72.
Head black. Antennae white at apices, in male rather deeply laminate. Thorax
black. Abdomen in male with seven, in female with six orange or reddish-orange
rings; tuft in male orange. Fore-tibiae with a posterior tuft more or less
ochreous. Forewings with spots pale ochreous, semi-hyaline; very rarely a
small supra-apical or intermediate dot. Hindwings with spots separate.
Var. a. Abdominal tuft in male black at sides. At one time I considered this a
distinct species, but after examination of large series from different
localities I do not think this can be maintained.
Var. b. Basal spots of wings reddish-tinged.
Var. c. Upper segment of discal spot of hindwing minute or absent.
Var. d. Female. Fore wing with basal and dorsal spots partly confluent. A very
rare individual abnormality.
The spots are smaller in female than male; in some males this difference is
exaggerated. As a general rule the males are larger, but they vary from 28 to
45 mm. Sir Geo. Hampson's synonymy of this species needs revision.
N.Q.: Cooktown (?) - Q.: Rockhampton, Maryborough, Nambour, Brisbane,
Stradbroke Island, Mount Tambourine, Toowoomba, Dalby, Killarney, Stanthorpe -
N.S.W.: Ballina, Grafton, Tenterfield, Sydney, Bulli, Wollongong - Vic.:
Walhalla. I doubt very much whether the species occurs outside Australia.

Seitz, A. (1913). 1. Family: Syntomidae. In: Seitz, A. (ed.), The
Macrolepidoptera of the World, vol. 10, The Indo-Australian Bombyces and
Sphinges. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart; p. 75, pl. 9 e (as Syntomis annulata, with
ab. nigriceps).

S. annulata F., a most variable species, limited almost entirely to Australia,
being in the North the commonest Syntomis. Black with yellow face, collar and
abdominal rings. Wings thinly scaled, blackish-green with dull yellowish
transparent spots; on the forewing 5 spots the two outer of which are double,
i. e. divided by ribs into two. Hindwings with 2 spots. - ab. nigriceps Btlr.
has the vertex black instead of yellow. - pyrocoma Meyr. has on the anal tuft a
spot of brillant golden yellow. - ab. cingulata Btlr. has the last abdominal
segment deep yellow as far as the dark base. The two last-named forms have on
the forewing between the radials only a very minute spot, which in intensa
Btlr. (= hesperidis Meyr.) is entirely absent. - synedra Meyr. (9 e) closely
resembles cingulata Btlr., also in size, but the spots are not so transparent,
being more dull ochreous. Many of these closely related forms are justly
considered to be good species. Moreover, there exist a number of unnamed
aberrations; thus the spots may be reddish instead of yellow, especially those
at the base (= var. b. Turn.), or they may be partly united (= var. d. Turn.)
etc.

Aurivillius, C. (1920). Results of Dr. E. Mjöberg's Swedish Scientific
Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 21. Macrolepidoptera. Arkiv för Zoologi
13, no. 1; p. 13, no. 90 (as Syntomis (Hydrusa) nigriceps Butl. (?)).

Translated from the German original.

90. Syntomis (Hydrusa) nigriceps Butl. (?) - 2 males, 1 female. Queensland:
Glen Lamington; Lamington Plateau; Mount Tambourine. The species most closely
related to S. annulata cannot be distinguished with certainty either from the
synopses of Meyrick, Hampson and Turner or from the figures supplied by
Hampson. The present form differs from its relatives in that the basal spot of
the hind wing is bounded inwardly by vein 1 and thus does not reach the inner
margin. Butler says nothing about this in the description of nigriceps, and
neither does Hampson in his description. The head is entirely black above; the
antennae white at the tip and the metathorax black. The terminal segment of the
abdomen in the male orange-yellow with black sides, in the female entirely
orange-yellow.
Since Fabricius says of his annulata that the antennae are black and the
scutellum yellow, his species can be neither annulata Boisd. nor nigriceps
Butl., but is probably pyrocoma Meyr., with which the description seems to
agree.