Diascoides Holloway, 1985

Qi, Feng, Wang, Ke, Xue, Dayong & Yang, Ding, 2011, A taxonomic revision of the Stictopterinae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea, Noctuidae) in China, Zootaxa 2926, pp. 1-45 : 27

Genus Diascoides Holloway, 1985

Diascoides Holloway, 1985 , Malay. Nat. J., 38: 281. Type-species: Diascoides metaphaea (Walker, 1863) , by original designation.

Diagnosis. The genus Diascoides resembles Lophoptera on the wing patterns, but is distinguishable by yellow forewing coloration. In the male genitalia, the uncus is bifid basally, but that of Lophoptera is complete. In the female genitalia, the ostium has fold structures, which are absent in Lophoptera .

Description. Head. Distance between compound eyes same as eye diameter. Frons convex, brown. Male antenna filiform, brown. Vertex brown, with short erected scales. Labial palpus yellowish-brown, extended beyond frons, the third segment long and narrow. Thorax. Yellowish-brown; patagia and tegulae covered with blackishbrown scales, patagia longer than half of mesothorax. Legs greyish-yellow, segments ends grey; mid tibia with a pair of spurs; hind tibia with two pairs of spurs, two pale yellowish hair-pencils present at opposite side of spurs. Wing shape and venation. Forewing triangular with outer margin slightly wavy, anal margin slightly incurved centrally. Hindwing wide, apex and tornus rounded, costal and anal margin straight, outer margin arch-like, slightly incurved between M veins. Forewing venation: Sc and R1 free; R2 and R3-5 connected by a short vein and formed an areole before upper angle of cell; R3, R4 and R5 stalked and diverging from upper angle of cell, R5 diverging from upper angle of areole; R3 and R4 separate after terminal one third of stalk; M2 and M3 diverging from lower angle of cell, Cu1A diverging a little before lower angle of cell; CuA2 diverging at terminal one third of lower margin of cell. Hindwing venation: Rs and M1 diverging from upper angle of cell; M2, M3 and CuA1 diverging from lower angle of cell; CuA2 diverging at terminal one third of lower margin of cell; 2A present ( Fig. 9 ). Wing-pattern. Forewing greyish-yellow or yellowish-brown, with brown or blackish-brown lines and patches; a dark-brown patch at base of anal margin; antemedial line double; medial line thin, wavy, sometimes thickened on costal margin; reniform ringed with brown scales; postmedial line double, dentate, outer line darker; submarginal line greyish-yellow, wavy, with brown patch between M2 and M3 anteriorly; terminal line brown, interrupted on vein ends; fringes greyish-yellow between veins, blackish-brown at vein ends. Hindwing dark greyish-brown with basal half almost transparent, veins dark or blackish-brown; fringes same color as forewing. Underside: forewing dark yellowish-brown, paler near anal margin; costal margin with several yellow dots on terminal half; postmedial line greyish-brown, wide; submarginal line greyish-brown, wavy; hindwing brown, postmedial line dark greyish-brown, wide; basal half same as upper side. Abdomen. Grey or brown, ends of segments dark-brown. Male genitalia. Uncus bifid, divided into two slender arms basally. Gnathos absent. Tegumen simple, slightly expanded basally. Valva wide and long; costa always concave at middle, sometimes with short process. Saccus nearly rectangular. Aedeagus short (followed Holloway 1985). Female genitalia. Ovipositor short, wide, covered with short hairs. Apophyses posteriores long and narrow, apophyses anteriores short. Ostium with folded structures or with small lobes, sometimes with a inverted triangular sclerotization posteriorly. Ductus bursae long and narrow. Appendix bursae developed; corpus bursae with spinose signum.

Distribution. Oriental and Australian regions. The genus is firstly recorded for China.

Remarks. Holloway (1985) mentioned that the female of this genus lacks the signum. In the present study, we found that the female of the following species has a signum; the other characters are as described above for the genus Diascoides , so we treat it as a species of this genus.

Figures

FIGURES 3 – 11. Venations. 3. Stictoptera signifera. 4. Aegilia describens. 5. Gyrtona lapidarioides. 6. Odontodes aleuca. 7. Lophoptera squammilinea. 8. Lophoptera longipennis. 9. Diascoides ferruginea. 10 – 11. Sigmuncus arcuata. 10, male; 11, female.