Cidariplura Butler, 1879

Wu, Shipher, Owada, Mamoru & Wang, Min, 2019, Review of Cidariplura Butler, 1879 (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Herminiinae). Part 1: the Cidariplura gladiata species complex, Zootaxa 4668 (4), pp. 489-502 : 490-491

Genus Cidariplura Butler, 1879

Type species: Cidariplura gladiata Butler, 1879 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. The Cidariplura can be easily distinguished from most herminiine or noctuoid species based on the extraordinarily long labial palpus of the males. Similar genera with longer labial palpus in males are Oxaenanus , Hadennia , Mosopia in the Indo-Australian and Eastern Palaearctic regions. The genus Oxaenanus differs from Cidariplura by having the first segment of the labial palpus porrect directing forwards rather than upcurved along frons and lacks a clear boundary between the elongate second and third segments ( Holloway 2008) rather than the clear segmentation in Cidariplura . Hadennia and Mosopia have remarkably shorter male labial palpus than Cidariplura ( Owada 1978) and they possess one signum in the corpus bursae, whereas there is no signum in all examined Cidariplura species. In Mosopia , Cidariplura and another genus Idia , which has an unmodified male labial palpus and the male foretibia has a distinctively sharp spine distally ( Owada 1994; Wu et al. 2013), in addition, male genitalia of Mosopia and Cidariplura are similar as the three major parts of valva, i.e. costal process of valva, distal portion of valva and saccular process of valva, are well separated.

Description. Head: Antenna in males—Ciliate with each flagellum bearing a pair of long bristles. Antenna in females—Ciliate. Labial palpus in males—length of 2 nd segment about 0.5 to 1. 5 x that of 1st, length of 3 rd segment as long as or longer than that of 2 nd; a patch of long scales locating dorso-posteriorly on 2 nd segment; inner side of 3 rd segment covered by long scales with blunt apex; 1st segment extending upward beyond vertex, 2 nd segment bending backward till hind margin of mesothorax, and apex of 3rd segment touching front margin of abdomen at rest. Labial palpus in female—3 rd shorter than 2 nd, slender, tapering towards apex. Thorax: Legs in males—foretibial with presence of a spine at apex. Wings: Forewing broad, costa slightly excurved, apex nearly forming right angle, outer margin obtusely angulate at CuA1; R 3 and R 4 stalked, R 5 arising from areole. Hindwing broad, R s and M 1 short-stalked; M 2 arising from rather near the anal angle of cell; M 3 and CuA 1 short-stalked.

Male genitalia: Uncus slender with hooked apex; tegumen narrow, simple; vinculum well developed, U-shaped in ventral view with slender, long scale tufts arising from dorsal membranous portion, saccus usually V-shaped; valva sclerotized, distal projection usually tongue-like, tapering or truncate, sacculus developed, digitiform or rod-like; juxta broad, sclerotized, extending dorso-medially; transtillae sclerotized, rod-like, separated medially. Aedeagus moderate in length, broad, cylindrical, distal portion sclerotized as dentate patch; vesica weakly scobinate with numerous divercula. Female genitalia: Papillae anales truncate, apophyses posteriores and apophyses anteriores equal in length, ductus bursae shorter than or as long as corpus bursae, a pair of sclerotized bands locating laterally on ductus bursae; corpus bursae membranous, elongate, sac-like with dense internal spinose patch at basal half part.

Distribution. The eastern and southern Palaearctic to the Oriental region.