Homadaula punctigera (Rebel, 1910)

Mey, Wolfram, 2022, Taxonomic notes on Palearctic taxa of Galacticidae, a little-known family of Lepidoptera (Galacticoidea), Nota Lepidopterologica 45, pp. 169-190 : 169

Homadaula punctigera (Rebel, 1910)

Figs 3-4 , 17 , 18-20

Paraprays punctigera Rebel, 1910: 13-14, type locality: Alai Mts., types in NHMW and MGAB [not examined].

Material examined.

1 ♂, [ Uzbekistan], "Margelan, H[a]b[er]h[auer]" [hand-written on brown paper], ex coll. Staudinger (MfN) ; 5 ♂, from the same locality, but without Haberhauer indicated as collector (MfN) .

Diagnosis.

Forewings brown-grey, with very small, black dots along R and Cu; tarsal segments of fore- and midlegs not flecked dorsally; male with vestiges of uncus and gnathos, valvae long, dorsal process broad, not abruptly separated from apical portion.

The species is similar to H. anisocentra by sharing the grey-brown colour of the adults and the similar pattern of forewings. In the male genitalia, the long tergal plate and the form of the phallic apparatus (= fused with the anellus) have a similar architecture in both species.

Redescription.

Adult (Fig. 3 ) Length of forewing 7-9 mm, wingspan 15.5-18.2 mm (n = 6); head brown-grey, frons with appressed scales, vertex and scape with semi-erected, porrect scales; labial palpi as long as eye-diameter, straight, uniformly grey-brown; unscaled proboscis pale grey; antennae filiform, 0.5 of forewing length, finely ciliated on ventral side; fore-tibia with epiphysis, tarsomeres of fore and mid-legs brown, not flecked on dorsal sides, spurs 0.2.4.; forewing brown-grey, with very small, black dots (6-10) along R and Cu, one larger dot in end of cell, dots on termen absent, underside grey-brown; hindwing somewhat paler than forewing, fringes grey; wing venation with accessory cell in forewing and complete M present in cell; hindwing with M3 and Cu1a confluent over short distance; retinaculum with grey-brown scales on underside of Sc.

Male genitalia (Figs 18-20 ): tergal plate of segment VIII nearly rectangular, with emarginated apex in dorsal view; pleurae and sternum membranous, simple, not lobe-like; segment IX vestigial, uncus arched, scale-like, on lateral corners attached to tergal plate and on this point with long, upcurved process; gnathos asymmetrical, valva long, dorsal process broad, elongate, directed dorsad, of apical part shorter, rounded apically; phallus short, fused sub-basally with anellus.

Female: unknown.

Distribution

(Fig. 17 ). The species is known from the Alai Mts. situated between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Margelan in the Ferghana Valley is the second known locality of the species collected probably in 1896 by the Austrian entomologist Josef Haberhauer (1828-1902).

Figures

Figure 17. Distribution of Homadaula punctigera (Rebel), Zarcinia stshetkini sp. nov. and Z. walsinghami (Caradja) in Central Asia.

Figures 1 - 8. Adults of Homadaula spp. 1 - 2. H. caradjae (Walsingham), male paralectotype and label; 3 - 4. H. punctigera (Rebel), male and label; 5 - 6. H. schaeuffelei (Amsel), female paratype and label; 7. H. schaeuffelei (Amsel), female, Iran; 8. H. schaeuffelei (Amsel), male, Pakistan (photos by W. Mey).

Figures 18 - 26. Male genitalia of Homadaula punctigera (Rebel), 18. Lateral; 19. Dorsal; 20. Ventral; 21 - 23. Male genitalia of H. schaeuffelei (Amsel); 21. Lateral; 22. Ventral; 23. Dorsal; 24 - 26. Female genitalia of H. schaeuffelei (Amsel); 24. Ventral; 25. Segment VII dorsal; 26. Lateral.