Spilosoma seriatopunctata (Motschulsky, 1860)

Hampson, G. F. (1901). Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British
Museum, vol. 3: pp. 285-286. As Diacrisia seriatopunctata.

1749. Diacrisia seriatopunctata.

Spilosoma seriatopunctata, Motsch. Et. Ent. ix. p. 31 (1860); Kirby, Cat.
Het. p. 230.
Spilosoma striatopunctata, Oberth. Diagn. Lep. Askold, p. 6 (1879); id. Et.
Ent. v. p. 32, pl. 1. f. 8.
Spilarctia rosacea, Butl. A. M. N. H. (5) iv. p. 352 (1879); Kirby, Cat.
Het. p. 231.
Spilarctia basilimbata, Butl. Trans. Ent. Soc. 1881, p. 6; Kirby, Cat. Het.
p. 230.

♂. Buff; palpi crimson, black at tips; frons and antennae black; fore coxae
crimson with black patch; femora crimson above, tibiae and tarsi striped
with black; abdomen crimson above except at base and extremity, dorsal,
lateral, and sublateral series of black spots. Fore wing with the
interspaces tinged with brown; a black fascia on base of costa expanding
into an antemedial spot; antemedial black points above and below vein 1,
sometimes absent; a black point in upper angle of cell and sometimes
another beyond it below costa; an oblique series of spots or short streaks
on each side of the veins from apex to inner margin beyond middle, some of
the spots at middle often absent; subterminal black points on each side of
veins 3-5, sometimes absent, and sometimes two spots towards tornus. Hind
wing with the inner area slightly tinged with crimson; a discoidal black
spot, one to three subterminal spots towards tornus and often one above
vein 5. Underside of fore wing with the disk suffused with crimson; black
suffusion in submedian interspace; a black discoidal lunule, and postmedial
spot below costa.

♀. Fore wing with the black streak on costa sometimes reduced to the
antemedial spot; the oblique series of spots reduced to those towards apex
and inner margin; underside without crimson and often without black
suffusion.

Ab. 1. basilimbata. Fore wing with the interspaces more strongly tinged
with brown; black spots before the oblique series on each side of veins 1
and 2.

Ab. 2. rosacea. Fore wing slightly tinged with crimson; hind wing strongly
tinged with crimson, leaving the margins only ochreous; underside of fore
wing crimson to near termen.

Hab. Siberia, Askold; Japan, Yezo (Andrews), 1 ♂, Hakodate (Lewis), 4 ♂,
2 ♀, Oiwake (Pryer), 2 ♂, 1 ♀, Miyanoshita, 1 ♂, Tokio (Jonas, Fenton,
Pryer), 6 ♂, 2 ♀, types rosacea and basilimbata, Yokohama (Manley), 2 ♂;
Corea, Gensan (Leech), 1 ♂, 1 ♀. Exp. 42-54 millim.

Seitz, A. (1910). Spilarctia. In: Seitz, A. (ed.), The Macrolepidoptera of
the World, vol. 2, The Palaearctic Bombyces and Sphinges: pp. 85-86,
pl. 15 c. (German edition: Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 2: 85-86.)
Treated as a form following S. casigneta, to which it is compared.

seriatopunctata Motsch. (= striatopunctata Oberth.) (15 c). Also very
closely allied to rhodosoma, and probably not specifically different from
that insect. The black base of the costa is very distinct in the ♂ and the
oblique row of dots on the forewing varies strongly in development.
Hindwing above and below often strongly suffused with rose-red. This
reddish hue may also be continued on the forewing, this being the case in
ab. rosacea Btlr. In ab. basilimbata Btlr. there are dark shadows in the
internervular spaces of the forewing. The larva, according to Staudinger,
very like that of Spilos. menthastri, somewhat darker and especially
distinguished from it by the hairs of the separate tufts being denser. East
Siberia, North China, Corea and Japan, locally very common.

The preceding paragraph of Seitz, to which the above refers (p. 85):

S. casigneta Koll. (= sanguinalis Moore, sagittifera Moore) (15 b).
Strongly resembles rhodosoma, but the black colour at the base of the costa
is absent. The species is easily recognised by the underside, where the
disc of the forewing is suffused with bright purple-red. Distributed from
Kashmir over Tibet to Western China; also in the Indian Himalayas, where
the species is very abundant. It varies strongly, and Hampson mentions
specimens with the thorax black instead of orange-yellow.