Acentropinae, Stephens, 1836

Singh, Navneet, Ranjan, Rahul, Talukdar, Avishek, Joshi, Rahul, Kirti, Jagbir Singh, Chandra, Kailash & Mally, Richard, 2022, A catalogue of Indian Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5197 (1), pp. 1-423 : 27-28

2.1. Acentropinae

Diversity and distribution: distributed worldwide ( Holloway et al. 2001) with 797 valid species in 72 genera (Nuss et al. 2003 – 2022, Léger et al. 2020). In India, 75 species in 20 genera are present, representing 9.41% of the global Acentropinae diversity. Of the 20 genera reported from India, 11 genera contain only a single species, six genera are known by two to 10 species, and the remaining three genera, Eoophyla Swinhoe , Paracymoriza Warren , and Parapoynx Hübner comprise more than 11 species ( Fig. 14 ). In India, the Acentropinae are most diverse in North East, followed by the Western Ghats and central Himalaya. The rest of the biogeographic zones contain fewer numbers. So far, no Acentropinae are reported from the Trans-Himalaya ( Fig. 15 ).

Adult characters: slender, long-legged adult moths have long, strikingly patterned fore- and hindwings, often with prominent banding on a pale background. A row of small, ocellate marks is present on the hindwing margins of some genera. The forewings usually have a dense subcostal and radial venation, with R 2 usually stalked with R 3+4. In the hindwing, Sc+R 1 are anastomosed with Rs beyond the discal cell. The praecinctorium is a single lobe. In the male genitalia, the long uncus, together with the gnathos, is connected via a sclerite to the costa of the elongate valva ( Holloway et al. 2001). The ductus ejaculatorius enters the phallus near the centre.

Larval characters: mostly aquatic larvae with lateral gills on their body segments ( Solis 2006) and are found in standing and flowing water, including brackish mangrove habitats ( Murphy 1990). Some larvae build cases, including the few terrestrial genera like Nymphicula Snellen.

Food plants: some larvae are detritus feeders, potentially contributing to nutrient recycling, whereas others graze on algae or feed on water plants ( Holloway 2001).

Figures

FIGURE 14. Species diversity of Indian Acentropinae genera.

FIGURE 15. Species diversity of Indian Acentropinae in different biogeographic zones/zones.