Dialectica Walsingham, 1897

Dialectica Walsingham, 1897: 150 . Type species: Gracilaria scalariella Zeller, 1850 .

Eutrichocnemis Spuler, 1910: 409 . Type species: Gracillaria scalariella Zeller, 1850 .

The genus Dialectica, comprising 24 species, is distributed worldwide, with most species known from Sub-Saharan Africa. The morphological characters of the adults, including their genitalia, were outlined by Vári (1961) and Kuznetzov (1979), but the most comprehensive redescription of the genus was provided by Kumata et al. (1988a). Here we used the following characters as diagnostic for Dialectica: (1) antennal scape with flap of scales; (2) valva with two long combs on inner surface; (3) caudal margin of the male abdominal segment VII well sclerotized with paired processes or notched; (4) ductus bursae long, often partly shagreened and with a pair of valva-shaped sclerites or protuberances.