Milocera, SWINHOE, 1904

Scoble, Malcolm J. & Krüger, Martin, 2002, A review of the genera of Macariini with a revised classification of the tribe (Geometridae: Ennominae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 134 (3), pp. 257-315 : 268-269

MILOCERA SWINHOE

(Figs 2, 64–67)

Milocera Swinhoe, 1904 . Type species: Milocera horaria Swinhoe (1904) . Madagascar.

Description

Head. Chaetosemata extended. Antenna fasciculate, not bipectinate.

Wings (Fig. 2). Often weakly falcate; ranging from off-white, through ochreous to red-brown.

Male genitalia ( Figs 64, 66 ). Uncus usually fairly narrow, pointed or truncated. Gnathos present. Valva divided; shape of costa and of sacculus varies; stout spine-like setae usually present.

Pregenital abdomen of male. Sternum A3 with or without a patch of bristles medially. Sternum A8 with margin weakly emarginated in type species, ranging to bilobed in some other species and with curved hornlike octavals in others.

Female genitalia ( Figs 65, 67 ). Corpus bursae small and usually densely covered with spines (as in Platypepla ), but spines absent in type species ( horaria ).

Diagnosis. The type species, which occurs in Madagascar, differs in the structure of the genitalia from all other species of Milocera , notably in the shape of the valva (see Fig. 64 ). The valva of M. horaria does not bear stout setae, which differs from the situation in many species. In the female, the shape of the corpus bursae is small and round, typical of the Platypepla - group of genera, but it lacks the dense arrangement of spines found in other species of Milocera .

Distribution. Afrotropical region north of 21°S, and Madagascar.

Comments. The inclusion of species additional to the type species by Prout (1922, 1932, 1934), Herbulot (1973, 1989) and, particularly, Krüger (2001) is accepted here provisionally on grounds mainly of similarity in general appearance of the moths and, in particular, the weakly falcate shape of the forewings. An alternative approach would be to synonymize Milocera with Platypepla , thus expanding considerably the concept of this latter genus. The species of Platypepla (in the sense adopted here), however, form a monophyletic group based on characters from the wings and, particularly, of the male genitalia.

Number of species. Twenty-six species are listed by Krüger (2001), 16 of which are new.

Figures

Figures 64–67. Milocera species: 64, M. horaria, ♂ genitalia; 65, M. horaria, ♀ genitalia; 66, M. arcifera, ♂ genitalia; 67, M. arcifera, ♀ genitalia.