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Description
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Hiptage benghalensis (L.) Kurz is a woody vine species belonging to the family Malpighiaceae, native to India, Southeast Asia, and China (POWO, 2024). It is an invasive species in introduced areas such as Réunion Island (France; Tassin et al., 2006), Mauritius (Friedmann, 2011), Florida and Hawaii (USA) (Randall, 2002; Starr et al., 2003), and Queensland (Australia) (Csurhes, 2016; Weeds of Australia, 2016). Listed as one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species worldwide (Lowe et al., 2000), H. benghalensis poses severe threats to biodiversity in many invaded regions, particularly in Réunion – a global biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al., 2000). The vines of this plant intertwine to form dense thickets, covering large areas of forests in Réunion (Tassin et al., 2006; Vidal et al., 1997), narrow the habitats of native and endemic species (Kueffer & Mauremootoo, 2004), and continuously expanding their coverage. After failures in managing this species using mechanical, chemical, or combined methods (Vitelli et al., 2009), a classical biological control program was initiated in its native range, Vietnam, in 2022 to search for potential arthropods and microorganism to manage this plant in Réunion (Lam et al., 2023). Preliminary surveys recorded insect pests on H. benghalensis and other species of the genus Hiptage, among which larvae of Badamia exclamationis, commonly found in southern Vietnam (Ba Ria – Vung Tau province). Badamia exclamationis belongs to the genus Badamia, that comprises two species and five subspecies. It was first described in 1775 as Papilio exclamationis and has been recorded feeding on the leaves of H. benghalensis (Maeda & Muroya, 1967, cited by Chiba, 2009; Kawthankar et al., 2025). The species is widely distributed, ranging from Sri Lanka to islands in Southeast Asia, Fiji, Samoa, and New Hebrides (Chiba, 2009), as well as Queensland (Dunn, 2020). This dataset presents morphological characteristics of B. exclamationis reared on H. benghalensis plant. (2025-02-11)
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