1. Falter

2. Diagnosis

1-3: ♂, data see label (coll. & photos: Egbert Friedrich)

1-3: ♀, data see label (coll. & photos: Egbert Friedrich)

2.1. Original description

1-5: Snellen (1875: 63, 65-66, pl. 6 fig. 1) [from copyright-free scans at www.biodiversitylibrary.org]

3. Further information

3.1. Synonyms

• Nola candida Butler, 1879 [synonym according to funet.fi]
• Roeselia fragilis Swinhoe, 1890 [synonym according to funet.fi]
• Sorocostia mesozona Lucas, 1890 [synonym according to funet.fi]

3.2. Distribution

Nola taeniata was described from Celebes (now South Sulawesi, Indonesia). The species has been found from Australia to Japan and across South Korea, Taiwan, small parts of China, Thailand to Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. A single information about a specimen in Gibraltar reported by Vives Moreno (2014: 805 [note 1160]) is completely surprising: “Esta especie fue capturada el 27 de septiembre de 1910, en Gibraltar (ZERNY, 1927), sin duda se trata de un ejemplar emigrante; no tenemos nuevos datos sobre esta especie. Podria tratarse de Nola afrotaeniata Hacker, 2012, recientemente descubierta.”.

Zerny (1927: 128) did not see this species with his own eyes, he only noted: “Von dieser von Armenien bis Australien vorkommenden Art erwähnt Jacobs ein am 27. September auf Gibraltar gefangenes Stück.”

Jacobs (1913: 233) told us: “Celania taeniata, Snell. This little exotic Nolid taken at light in Gibraltar on September 27th, 1910.” Confusion of the place of discovery is not to be expected here, as the author was stationed in Gibraltar at that time. The determination should also have corresponded to the state of the art of science at the time, because the author could have proofed most of his determinations by J.H. Durrant, L.B. Prout and J.J. Walker and thanks to the help of G.F. Hampson he also could make comparisons with animals in the BNHM himself.

It is practically impossible that an animal of this species from the known distribution area of the Nola taeniata independently migrated to Gibraltar, and also the proposed solution that it may have been Nola afrotaeniata, which was first described from Ethiopia in 2012 is quite unlikely in terms of independent immigration, as this species only occurs in Africa from Ethiopia to the south. The report from Gibraltar cannot be used unless the collected (and still existing ?) specimen is checked again. But even if the specimen is really N. taeniata or N. afrotaeniata – definitely none of these species is part of the fauna of Europe. It is a passively displaced individual animal and nothing else.

(Author: Erwin Rennwald)

3.3. Literature

• Jacobs, J.J. (1913): Notes on Lepidoptera from Gibraltar and the surrounding country. – Entomological Monthly Magazin, second series 24 [= 49] (281-282 [= 588-589]): 117-125, (284-285 [= 591-592]): 189-204, (286 [= 593]): 233-243.
• Original description: Snellen, P. C. T. (1875): Vier nieuwe soorten van het genus Nola Leach. — Tijdschrift voor entomologie 18: 61-69, pl. 6. 'S Gravenhage (Martinus Nijhoff).
• Vives-Moreno, A. (2014): Catálogo sistemático y sinonímico de los Lepidoptera de la Península Ibérica, de Ceuta, de Melilla y de las Islas Azores, Baleares, Canarias, Madeira y Salvajes (Insecta: Lepidoptera). — Suplemento de SHILAP Revista de Lepidopterología: 1-1184. Madrid.
• Zerny, H. (1927): Die Lepidopteren-Fauna von Algeciras und Gibraltar in Süd-Andalusien. — Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift „Iris“ 41 (2): 83-146, pl. II.