Pseudosacada flexuosa (Snellen, 1890) Singh & Kirti & Ranjan & Chandra & Speidel, 2020

Singh, Navneet, Kirti, Jagbir Singh, Ranjan, Rahul, Chandra, Kailash & Speidel, Wolfgang, 2020, On the taxonomy of the genus Sacada Walker, 1862 from India, with descriptions of a new genus and two new species (Pyralinae, Pyralidae, Lepidoptera), ZooKeys 962, pp. 139-163 : 139

Pseudosacada flexuosa (Snellen, 1890) comb. nov. Figs 15-18 , 33-40

Paravetta flexuosa Snellen 1890: 558.

= Sybrida inflammealis Ragonot 1891: 75.

TD.

Lectotype in NHMUK.

Description.

Male, wingspan 30 mm (Figs 15-18 ). Adult dark chocolate brown with fuscous and purple tinge; antennae bipectinate up to one-third of the length, apically simple; abdomen pale brownish; anal tufts rather strong; forewing with sub-basal, oblique purple patch below cell; antemedial line outwardly oblique from costa to vein Cu2, then rounded inward to meet inner margin, a small indention present in cell; postmedial line inwardly oblique, former inwardly and later outwardly bordered with ochreous scales; area between both lines distinctly differently coloured then rest of wing, an elongate spot on discocellular; on outer side of postmedial line, a roughly rectangular ochreous golden patch present from sub-costa to vein R5, veins on it dark. Hindwing ochreous brown with a curved postmedial line; outer area darker; underside paler; cilia as ground colour with fuscous basally. Hind tibia with two pairs of unequal tibial spurs covered with dark rufous scales, tip of each spur covered with whitish scales, one separate bunch of long rufous scales present. Male genitalia (Figs 33-40 ) discussed under the diagnosis of genus.

Material examined.

India, Meghalaya: 6 ♂, Umtasor, 16.ix.2014, leg. Rahul Ranjan (Coll. NZC ZSI); 1 ♂, Umtasor, 15.ix.2014, leg. Rahul Ranjan (Coll. NZC ZSI); 1 ♂, Mawsynram, 28.viii.2014, leg. Rahul Ranjan (Coll. NZC ZSI). India, Mizoram: 2 ♂, Kanhmun, 15.ix.2016, leg. Rahul Ranjan (Coll. NZC ZSI). India, Karnataka: 3 ♂, Ganeshgudi, 28.xi.2013, leg. Rahul Ranjan (Coll. NZC ZSI). Fig. 15 , Sacada inflamm [e] alis / Naga Hills, 3000-8000 ft., July-Aug. 1889, W. Doherty/Rothschild Bequest B.M. 1939-1/ BMNH (E) 1627031/ Collectio[n] H. J. Elwes.

Distribution.

North-eastern India (Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland), southern India (Karnataka); Vietnam ( Yên Bái); Nepal. Records of Mizoram and southern India are newly reported here.

Figures

Figures 13 - 18. Adults of Sacada and Pseudosacada spp. 13 S. pallescens Hampson (male), lectotype, Bhutan 14 S. decora Walker, Singapore 15 Pseudosacada flexuosa (Snellen) (= Sybrida inflammealis Ragonot), India 16 P. flexuosa (Snellen) (male), Kanhmun, Mizoram, India 17 P. flexuosa (Snellen) (male), Umtasor, Meghalaya, India 18 P. flexuosa (Snellen) (male), Ganeshgudi, Karnataka, India. Scale bars: 5 mm (16 - 18).

Figures 33 - 40. Male genitalia of Pseudosacada flexuosa (Snellen). 33 Ventral view 34 dorsal view 35 aedeagus 36 valva 37 uncus 38 gnathos 39 lateral process of uncus 40 enlarged view of transtilla processes.