Scoliokona phoenicia ( Hampson, 1919 ) Hampson, 1919

Kallies, Axel, Arita, Yutaka, Owada, Mamoru, Wu, Guo-Yi & Wang, Min, 2014, The Paranthrenini of Mainland China (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae), Zootaxa 3811 (2), pp. 185-206 : 194

Scoliokona Kallies & Arita, 1998

This genus is currently known from a range reaching from Thailand and Burma in the west to the Philippines and Lombok in the east (Arita & Riefenstahl 2004, Kallies & Arita 1998 and unpublished). We here report it from China and Vietnam for the first time.

Typical species of Scoliokona show bluish black forewings and partly scaled hingwings. They differ from species of related genera by the structure of the antennae (short, not reaching the discal spot, only about 2/5 of the forewing) and the labial palps (broad, with short apical segment, otherwise rough-scaled, with long scales) as well as the size of the head (relatively wide, about 3/4 of the width of the thorax). The male genitalia differ from those of related genera by the short and broad valvae and the presence of a well-developed crista in the middle of the ventral surface.

Based on our current work, the following species are here transferred to Scoliokona : Scoliokona phoenicia ( Hampson, 1919) comb. nov. ( Sura ); Scoliokona cyanea ( Hampson, 1919) comb. nov. ( Sura ); Scoliokona zygophora ( Hampson, 1919) comb. nov. ( Paranthrene ); Scoliokona uncariae ( Schneider, 1940) comb. nov. ( Sura ). The placement of these species is tentative, as neither of these species could be studied in detail and the decision is based solely on the examination of images of the type specimens. The type material of S. uncariae appears to be lost (Marianne Horak, personal communication).

This hostplant of typical Scoliokona species is unknown. The hostplant of S. uncariae and S. cyanea is Gambier ( Uncaria gambir , Rubiaceae ) ( Schneider 1940). According to Meyrick (1930) and in line with labels attached to the type specimens, Gambier is also the hostplant of S. cyanogama .