Problepsis Lederer, 1853

Xue, Dayong, Cui, Le & Jiang, Nan, 2018, A review of Problepsis Lederer, 1853 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) from China, with description of two new species, Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 101-127 : 102

Problepsis Lederer, 1853

Problepsis Lederer, 1853 . Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 2: 74. Type species: Caloptera ocellata Frivaldszky, 1845 . Turkey. Replacement name for Caloptera Frivaldszky, 1845.

Caloptera Frivaldszky, 1845, Evk. Királ. Magy. Term. Társ., 1: 185. Type species: Caloptera ocellata Frivaldszky, 1845 . Junior homonym of Caloptera Gistl, 1834 (Coleoptera).

Argyris Guenée, 1858, in Boisduval & Guenée, Hist. nat. Insectes (Spec. gén. Lépid.), 10: 12. Type species: Argyris ommatophoraria Guenée, 1858. Lebanon.

Euephyra Gumppenberg, 1887 , Nova Acta Acad. Caesar. Leop. Carol., 49: 328, 342. No type species is given.

Problepsiodes Warren, 1899b, Novit. zool., 6: 336. Type species: Problepsis conjunctiva Warren, 1893 . India.

Generic characters: Head: Male antennae bipectinate or dentate, with fascicles of cilia (often bipectinate in African species); female antennae often filiform, sometimes dentate, ciliated. Frons not protruding. Labial palpus extending beyond frons distally. Thorax. Ventral surface of thorax and fore femora hairy. Male hind tibia dilated, with hair-pencil, without spurs; tarsus abbreviated; female hind tibia normal, with two pairs of spurs. Venation: Forewing often with one single areole, but variable in P. conjunctiva Warren, 1893 , (see its remarks). R1 arising from or before apex of areole; R5 usually long stalked with R2-4. Hind wing with Rs and M1 separate, M3 and CuA1 separate. Forewing with apex almost quadrate, outer margin arched; hind wing with apex rounded, outer margin slightly wavy. Wings ground colour white or greyish white or light ochre-brown or light grey. Each wing usually with a ocellus at end of cell, sometimes invisible on both wings (e.g. P. rorida Prout, 1932 and P. ochripicta Warren, 1901 ), or indistinct on hind wing (e.g. P. aegretta Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875 and P. flavistigma Swinhoe, 1904 ); ocellus usually containing silvery scales, projecting from surface, sometimes containing dark patches and white stripe-like discal spot inside, submarginal line often composed of two rows of spots. Underside often with weakly expressed wing patterns, sometimes different from those of upperside.

Male genitalia: Uncus not developed. Internal margin of tegumen dentate or smooth. Socii fused at apex, ventral of tuba analis, setose, sometimes with lateral or central lobes. Valvula and sacculus separate, symmetrical, long, tapering towards apex. Juxta forming an inverted triangular or tongue-like lobe, anterior margin concaved centrally, fused to sacculus, sometimes free. Saccus broad. Aedeagus strongly sclerotized, with one or several teeth at apex, coecum penis dilated; vesica often with partly sclerotized and crinkled, sometimes with cornuti. Male eighth sternite elongated and anterior margin bifurcate, often with one process centrally, forming a head-shaped posterior dilation.

Female genitalia: Papillae anales stout and short. Lamella postvaginalis often well developed; lamella antevaginalis often absent, sometimes weakly developed. Ductus bursae often sclerotized. Corpus bursae large, spherical or oval, membranous; signum sometimes absent, often composed of an oval patch of small spines, arranged in longitudinal rows, medial spines often fused to a sclerite along longitudinal axis.

Diagnosis. The genus is unique in the ocellus of the wings and the fused socii of the male genitalia.

Biology. The host-plant records are mainly from the Oleaceae ( Singh 1957; Sugi 1987; Holloway 1997). The habitat preferences of some Problepsis species are provided by Holloway (1997) and Stadie & Stadie (2016). The larvae are long and slender, tapered anteriorly and often without any pattern ( Stadie & Stadie 2016). They rest on straight position, and are able to produce a silk thread if they are disturbed ( Hausmann 2004; Stadie & Stadie 2016).

Distribution. Palearctic, Oriental, Australian, and Afrotropical regions.

Remarks. Considering the present study is a review of Chinese species of Problepsis , the above generic characters are mainly summarized from Chinese species, and also from the studies of Prout (1912 –1916, 1934– 1939, 1920–1941, 1929–1938), Holloway (1997), Hausmann (2004), Sihvonen (2005) and Stadie & Stadie (2016). The genus still awaits a worldwide revision.