Eurypteryx bhaga ( Moore, 1866 )

Jiang, Zhuo-Heng & Wang, Cheng-Bin, 2020, Review of the genus Eurypteryx C. Felder & R. Felder, 1874 from China, with a first description of the male E. dianae (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), Zootaxa 4878 (2), pp. 375-384 : 376-378

Eurypteryx bhaga ( Moore, 1866) [ȒŖRǿ]

( Figs. 1 a–d, 2a–c, 7a)

Darapsa bhaga Moore, 1866 . Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1865: 794. TL: ‘Northeast Bengal [ India]’.

Material examined. CHINA: 2♂♂, Yunnan, Xishuang banna, Mengla County, 11.IV.1984, Yu-Zhou Du leg. ( NAFU) ; 2♂♂, Yunnan, Xishuang banna, Mengla County, 950 m, 3.V.2013, Zhuo-Heng Jiang leg.( JZHC) ; 1♂, Yunnan, Jinping Coun- ty, Ma’andi , 1020 m, 23.VII.2014, Shao-Fa Yin leg. ( SFU) ; 1♀, Yunnan, Puer , Jinggu County, 820 m, 19.VII.2018, Zhuo- Heng Jiang leg. ( JZHC) . MALAYSIA: 1♂, Borneo, Mt. Trusmadi , 1100 m, 15. IV.2017, Mr Ye-Jie Lin leg. ( SHNU) .

Description. Male ( Figs. 1 a–b): Head, thorax, and abdomen brown with a greyish overtone; head and thorax with light brown, antennae filiform, brownish yellow, apically hooked. Labial palpus protruding, brown greyish. Abdomen terminating in a black and a fan shaped tuft, close in shape to a gingko leaf ( Fig. 7a ). FWL: 39-42 mm. FW elongate, with falcate apex, outer margin slightly excavated below the apex but then convex to the tornus, tornus clearly protruding. Upperside ground colour brownish, with a line from the costa towards middle of outer margin, thereby dividing a light brown apical area from the dark brown discal area, and a large dark green hook medially, which projects markedly outwards between veins M3 to CuA1.A wide, deep brown stripe present near the hooked patch. Underside of both wings predominantly light-brown, with two distinct dark brown median lines. A deep brown submarginal line separates the lighter marginal area from the darker rest of the wing. HW upperside blackish brown, with a light patch at tornus. Underside light brown with two distinct dark brown median lines. Submarginal line separating the darker marginal area from the lighter rest of the wing.

Female ( Figs. 1 c–d): FWL: 45 mm. Similar to the male, but with wings broader and the ground color is slightly paler. Abdomen ending in a point with only a few black hair-like scales.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 2 a–c): Uncus and gnathos form a typical macroglossine “bird-beak” structure. Uncus slightly curved, with a tiny apical hook, densely hairy dorsally. Gnathos markedly curved upward and much deeper than uncus, apex blunt. Valva rounded, with wider terminal part wider than the basal part, apex blunt. Sacculus almost straight, constricted apically into a short harpe, which is narrow and blunt. Phallus long and slender, with a distal transverse process; anterior lobe markedly wider than posterior one, with long spinules along two sides.

Differential diagnosis. Eurypteryx bhaga is most similar to E. obtruncata Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 , which is only known from the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The line on the forewing upperside from the costa towards middle of outer margin, which divides the light brown apical area from the dark brown discal area in E. bhaga , is more complete than in E. obtruncata . The hindwing upperside in E. bhaga is deep brown, with a light straight patch at tornus, but is slightly curved in E. obtruncata .

Distribution. China (Yunnan) ( Fig. 8 ), Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines.

Biological notes. This species was collected in evergreen broad-leaf forest, attracted to light, or flying around pools in the daytime ( Fig. 9 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of Eurypteryx bhaga (Moore, 1866) in dorsal (a, c) and ventral (b, d) view. a–b. male (Yunnan, China); c–d. female (Yunnan, China). Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 2. Male genitalia of Eurypteryx bhaga (Moore, 1866). a. ring with right valva, inner view; b. left valva, lateral view; c. phallus, lateral view. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURE 7. Abdomen tufts of male Eurypteryx species in dorsal (a, b, c) view. a. E. bhaga (Yunnan, China); b. E. dianae (Guizhou, China); c. E. geoffreyi, holotype (Thailand), © Kitching (2020).

FIGURE 8.. Distribution map of Eurypteryx species from China. Solid red circles: E. dianae; solid green square: E. bhaga.

FIGURE 9–10. Habitats of Eurypteryx species from China. 9. E. bhaga, altitude 950 m, Mengla County, S. Yunnan. 10. E. dianae, altitude 845 m, Maolan, SE. Guizhou.