Muiralevu Zelazny, 1981

Zelazny, B. & Webb, M. D., 2011, 3071, Zootaxa 3071, pp. 1-307 : 55

Genus Muiralevu Zelazny

Muiralevu Zelazny, 1981: 83 . Type species: Levu africana Muir, 1913 , by original designation.

Formolevu Yang & Wu, 1993: 214 . syn. nov. Type species: Levu quadramaculata Muir, 1915 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. The species of Muiralevu Zelazny can be recognized by the combination of the following characters: 1. Forewings elongated (more than twice as long as wide) with only 4, two long and two short, costal cells.

2. Forewings with apex of the basal median cell formed by a crossvein between Ms1 and Cu1 or between Ms1b

and Cu1 (e.g. Fig. 123c).

3. Ms1 of forewings usually branching very close to or at the apex of the basal median cell, with Ms1a usually forming a characteristic angle a short distance from that fork. At that point a cross-vein connects Ms1a to M

forming a small rhomboid cell distad of the basal median cell.

4. Forewings with Sc+R fork being located near the 1st costal sector.

5. Hindwings with tip of R usually branched.

6. Male pygofer often with pointed lateral projections.

The forewing venation approaches that of some species of Saccharodite . In (rare) cases of similarities in the venation, species of Muiralevu can be recognized by the more elongated forewings, the location of the Sc+R fork near the 1st costal sector (in Saccharodite usually in the middle between 1st and 2nd costal sectors), the presence of the rhomboid cell at the base of M (triangular in Saccharodite ), the branched tip of R in the hindwings, the male pygofer often bearing pointed lateral projections (the latter two characters are not found in Saccharodite ) and/or the absence of any red colouration.

Gender. The name of the genus is a combination of 'Muir' (the author of the type species) and 'Levu' (the genus originally assigned to the type species). Muiralevu is masculine as stated in the original description.

Discussion. Yang & Wu (1993) created a separate, but closely related genus, Formolevu , for two Taiwanese species, characterized by slightly broader forewings and the cross-veins between Ms1a, Ms1b, Ms2 and Ms3 on the forewings being aligned in a straight row, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wing. However, in view of the considerable variation in forewing shape and venation in this and in other genera of Rhotanini we do not consider these characters sufficient ground for a separate genus and Formolevu is here synonymised with Muiralevu .

Distribution. The genus occurs in West Africa and South-East Asia (see Fig. 119 and Table 5). The disrupted distribution of this genus is striking.

Grouping and keys. In the following, we provide keys and descriptions for the species of 3 species groups. Finally we include keys for the species occurring in different countries and regions.