Alara fusca ( Muir, 1915 ), 1981

Zelazny, B. & Webb, M. D., 2011, 3071, Zootaxa 3071, pp. 1-307 : 24

Alara fusca ( Muir, 1915)

Mecynorhynchus fuscus Muir, 1915: 134

Alara fusca (Muir) Zelazny, 1981: 217

( Figs. 137)

Redescription. Forewings 2.0 times longer than wide, length: male 2.8–3.1 mm (mean = 3.0, n= 8), female 3.3–3.5 mm (mean = 3.4, n= 5). Colour light brown to stramineous; margins of facial carinae in front of eyes slightly reddish. Forewings light brown, slightly paler near apical margin; veins light brown, costa slightly reddish. Hindwings light brown. Rostrum nearly reaching end of abdomen; antennae elongated. Forewings with Sc+R fork in basal third; Ms1 branched distad of its middle, bases of Ms1 and Cu1 touching. Male genitalia with pygofer narrow. Genital styles broad rounded, bases of dorsal processes contiguous. Aedeagus stem with two long, prominent dorsal processes, their tips curved forward and finely serrated near their ends; apical part spatulate. Figure 6 illustrates the general habitus of the species. The live specimen in the photograph closely resembles A. fusca in colouration but shows differences in the position of the Ms1 fork on the forewings.

Etymology. The species name is a Latin adjective ( fuscus , -a, -um = dark-coloured).

Type material. Lectotype ♂ (here designated) (forewing 3.1 mm, body 1.8 mm), INDONESIA: JAVA; labels: 1) TYPE OF / M. fuscus M. 2) Btzg. 3) Mecynorhynchus / fuscus/ 659 Muir ( BPBM #5214).

Note. Muir described this species from an unspecified number of male specimens from "Buitenzorg, Java " (now Bogor ), 2 of them are present at BPBM. The specimen bearing a type label is here designated as lectotype .

Other material examined. INDONESIA: JAVA, 1 ♂ (paralectotype of M. fuscus ); Buitenzorg, IV. 1914 , 6 ♂ 6 ♀, F. Muir (all BPBM) .

Distribution. Java. The types originated from Buitenzorg (now Bogor) in Java. Muir's record of this species from the Philippines ( Muir 1917, p. 104) was probably based on a specimen from Mt. Makiling in Luzon, which is now part of the type series of A. isabella Zelazny.

Diagnosis. Alara fusca is indistinguishable externally from A. isabella Zelazny from the Philippines, which, however, lacks any processes on the stem of the male aedeagus. The structure of the male genitalia are very similar to those of A. cervus Zelazny from the Philippines and Borneo, from which A. fusca can be separated by its light brown colour.