Biston bengaliaria ( Guenee , 1858)

Jiang, Nan, Xue, Dayong & Han, Hongxiang, 2011, A review of Biston Leach, 1815 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae) from China, with description of one new species, ZooKeys 139, pp. 45-96 : 61

Biston bengaliaria ( Guenee, 1858) Figs 27-3078105122

Amphidasis bengaliaria Guenée, 1858, in Boisduval & Guenée, Hist. nat. Insectes (Spec. gén. Lépid.), 9: 210; ibidem (1858) Atlas; pl. 4, fig. 2. Syntypes 3♂, 1♀, Bengal; India (central). (BMNH)

Blepharoctenia bengaliaria : Warren, 1894, Novit. zool., 1: 428.

Biston (Cusiala) bengaliaria : Hampson, 1895, Fauna Br. India (Moths), 3: 247.

Biston bengaliaria : Yazaki, 1992, in Haruta, Tinea, 13 (Suppl. 2): 33.

Diagnosis.

The external characters of this species are close to those of Biston contectaria , but it can be distinguished from that species by the following differences: the wings are pale yellow but white in Biston contectaria ; the forewing postmedial line is much narrower and protruding outwards between CuA2 and 1A + 2A, while in Biston contectaria , it is broader and without such a protrusion; the discal spot on the hindwing upperside is large, round, black, while in Biston contectaria it is almost absent; the discal spots on the underside of both wings are larger and heavier. The male genitalia are close to those of Biston suppressaria , but it can be distinguished by the square apex of the juxta, the shorter median process of the gnathos and the presence of a cornutus which is a short spinous patch. The female genitalia are similar to those of Biston suppressaria . But it differs in that the corpus bursae is coiled anteriorly; the signum is longer and narrower; the ostium bursae is more strongly sclerotized.

Material examineds.

CHINA, Yunnan (IZCAS): Yuanjiang, 500 m, 12.V.1957, coll. Liang Qiuzhen, 1♀; Cangyuan, 750 m, 22.V.1980, coll. Song Shimei, 1♂; Xishuangbanna, Menglun, 27.V.1964, coll. Zhang Baolin, 1♂; Xishuangbanna, Bubang, 700 m, 14.IX.1993, coll. Cheng Xinyue, 3♂. Tibet (IZCAS): Mêdog, Beibung, 700-800 m, 11.VI.1983, coll. Lin Zai, 2♂; Mêdog, Yarang, 902-1091 m, 14-23.VIII.2006, coll. Lang Songyun, 6♂. More material from several parts of Yunnan in coll. ZFMK.

Distribution.

China (Yunnan, Tibet), India, Bengal, Thailand.