Parapoynx affinialis Guenée, 1854

Agassiz, David J. L., 2012, The Acentropinae (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae) of Africa, Zootaxa 3494, pp. 1-73 : 9-10

Parapoynx affinialis Guenée, 1854

Paraponyx [sic] affinialis Guenée, 1854: 270 .

Oligostigma incommoda Butler, 1881: 180 .

Nymphula fuscomarginata Bethune-Baker, 1894: 48 .

Nymphula affinialis alaicalis Caradja, 1917: 21 .

Type locality: Assam.

Described and illustrated by Speidel (1984). Imago (Fig. 1): Wingspan 12–22mm, females larger than males. Head and appendages fuscous, labial palpus upturned. Thorax fuscous. Forewing chiefly pale fuscous; a broad darker fuscous median fascia, whitish on inner and outer edges; a paler discal spot, darker ringed; a fine black subterminal line preceded by a whitish band; termen orange-fuscous; a broken terminal line; cilia fuscous. Hindwing whitish with a broad wavy dark fuscous submarginal line preceded by a narrower parallel line; termen orange-fuscous. Abdomen fuscous, a whitish edge to each segment, segment 3 darker making a dark line continuous with hindwing markings when moth is at rest.

There is considerable variation, especially in the amount of fuscous suffusion of the forewing.

Male genitalia (Fig. 82): Uncus digitate, strong, evenly curved towards venter, setae only on basal arms; gnathos ¾ length of uncus, evenly tapered to a point and slightly curved towards uncus; valva with costa concave in centre; dorsum more or less parallel with costa, a single digitate process near base; aedeagus bent, a little weak sclerotisation near apex and one small weak cornutus in vesica.

Female genitalia (Fig. 132): Ostium moderate, antrum gently tapered to colliculum, weakly scobinate; ductus long, gradually widening into corpus bursae; signa comprising two parallel longitudinal ridges in middle of corpus bursae and one fifth of its length.

Tympanal organs: Venulae almost parallel, very slightly divergent anteriorly, tympani kite-shaped with rounded apices.

Diagnosis: Similar to P. diminutalis , but distinguished by the darker, heavier markings, especially the postmedian band of the hindwing.

Biology: The larva is recorded from Potamogeton perfoliatus . Adult recorded iii.

Distribution: P. affinialis has been recorded in Egypt, between Cairo and Alexandria. An Asian species, its range extends from the Middle East to India, and it has also been recorded from Australia.

Material examined: The Bethune-Baker type appears to be lost. EGYPT: Matai 1♀ ( OUM).