Aergina hilaris (Westwood, 1848)

Katewa, Amit & Pathania, P. C., 2019, Genitalic studies of four Limacodid species (Limacodidae Lepidoptera) including the description of a new species from Western Ghats, India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 119 (4), pp. 373-380 : 374-375

Aergina hilaris (Westwood, 1848) ( Plate 1 , Photo A-B, Figures.C-G)

Limacodes hilaris Westwood, 1848 , Cab. Orient. Ent. 50, t. 24: fig. 3.

Type-locality: Central India.

Parasa hockingii Moore,1888 , Proc.Zool.Soc.Lond.: 403.Type-locality:

Kangra Valley, HP (3000 feet).

Parasa argalea West, 1937, Ann. Mag.nat. Hist. 10(10): 80, pl. II: fig. 7.

Type- locality: India, Jubbulpore, MP.

Male and female: Alar expanse: 20-26 mm, 30- 34 mm. Vertex dark green; upper scales of frons pale green, lower scales reddish brown, antenna bipectinate upto one-thrid in males, simple in females, yellowish brown; labial palpus porrect, dark brown, 1.2 times diameter of eye, second segment expanded, third segment hardly visible, tip yellowish; thorax dark green throughout; forewing with costa straight, apex rounded, termen oblique, convex, pea green in color, basal patch pale brownish, irregularly expanded in middle, outer patch fuscous, with yellowish scales, expanded towards posterior margin in males, green band wider in females; hindwing pale yellow, termen light brown, cilia on termen also light brown, hairy towards anal margin, undersurface pale green, costa brown; legs covered with yellowish scales, with scattered brownish scales throughout, joints brown, hairy.

Male genitalia: Uncus well developed, broader at base, narrowing apically, pointed with a distinctly sclerotized small knob-like structure; gnathos arms joined medially upto apex, clavate and rounded apically; tegumen moderately broad, high; vinculum moderate, band-like; transtilla somewhat sclerotized, flap-like; juxta produced into two asymmetrical arms, right arm slightly longer and slender then left; valva simple, much broader at base, gradually but strongly narrowing apically, costa concave, sacculus short, cucullus tip narrow, rounded; aedeagus moderate in size, strongly simulate, somewhat narrowing apically, upper lip pointed, sharply curved, coecum moderate, curved, ductus ejaculatorious wide, opening dorsally, vesica without cornuti.

Female genitalia: Papillae anales flat, elongated, setae absent; apophyses weakly developed; antrum present; ductus bursae long, narrow, memberanous, gradually widening towards corpus bursae; corpus bursae oval, weakly sclerotized with marginal area membranous, signum small, triangular.

Material examined: Kerala: Dist. Kollam, Chendruni , 70m, 03.ix.2004, 01 ♀ .; Karnataka: Dist. Belgaum, FRH, Khanapur , 370m, 21.iii.2003. 01 ♂ ; Dist. Kodagu, Medikeri , 1100m, 16.xi.2002, 01 ♂ ; Dist. Uttar Kannada, Ganeshgudi , 480m, 13.xi.2003, 03 ♂♂ , 22.vii.2004, 01 ♂,

16.x.2005, 01 ♂; Dist. Dakshin Kannada, Gundya, 40m,

28.vii.2004, 04 ♂♂, Dist. Shimoga, Shettihalli WLS, 320m,

10.vi.2003, 01 ♂; Dist. Kodagu, Nisergdhama, 1080m,

17.xi.2002, 01 ♂; Gujarat: Dist. The Dangs, Ahwa , 520m ,

29.ix.2005, 01 ♂. (coll. A. Katewa and party).

Distribution: India, Sri Lanka ( Hampson, 1892) and Punjab ( Rose, 2004), Bhutan ( Dudgeon 1900), Pakistan, India, Nepal ( Irungbam, 2017),

Remarks: Earlier this species was recorded in Bhutan by Dudgeon (1900). The species is known to occur throughout India ( Hampson, 1892), but according to Rose (2004) it is quite uncommon in north-west India. On the basis of present surveys and collection of twenty-eight specimens from the Western Ghats, it can be inferred that the species is quite common to this hot biodiversity spot.

Figures

Plate 1. Aergina hilaris (Westwood): (A-B) adults, (C) male genitalia (ventral view), (D) aedeagus, (E-F) uncus, (G) female genitalia.