Endotricha mesenterialis ( Walker, 1859: 285 )

Ranjan, Rahul, Singh, Navneet & Kirti, Jagbir Singh, 2023, On the taxonomy of genus Endotricha Zeller (Pyralinae, Pyralidae, Lepidoptera) with description of three new species from India, Zootaxa 5323 (1), pp. 56-70 : 65-66

Endotricha mesenterialis ( Walker, 1859: 285)

( Figs 12 , 25 )

Type locality: Malaysia , Borneo, Sarawak

= Endotricha suffusalis Walker, 1859: 390

Type locality: Ceylon

= Endotricha obscura Butler, 1886: 427–428

Type locality: Australia, Queensland, Rockhampton

= Endotricha eoidalis Snellen, 1895: 112–113 , pl. 5 figs 2–3

Type locality: Buitenzorg [ Indonesia, West Java, Bogor]

= Endotricha flavofascialis Fryer, 1912: 24 , 25, pl. 1 fig. 21

Type locality: Seychelles, Mahé & Silhouette , 800–1000 ft.

= Endotricha mesenterialis mahensis Whalley, 1963: 423 , pl. 5 figs 63, 66, pl. 19 fig. 190, pl. 32 fig. 276

Type locality: Seychelles

Material examined: India, Sikkim: Mangan , 2 ♁, 25.iv.2014 (8772/ H10) ; Dzongu , 1 ♁, 28.iv.2014 (13280/ H10) ; Mizoram: Mamit , 1 ♁, 29.ix.2013 (8773/ H10) , 1 ♁, 09.ix.2016 (8774/ H10); Jharkhand: Saranda forest, Kiriburu , 2 ♁, 19.x.2013 (13281/H10) ; Dalma WLS, Pindrabera , 3 ♁, 22.x.2013 (13282/H10) , R. Ranjan leg. (NZCZSI).

Diagnosis: E. mesenterialis ( Fig. 12 ) is closely similar to E. valentis ( Fig. 13 ), but is distinct from the latter in its longer process of the 1 st antennal segment. In male genitalia ( Fig. 25 ), by the shorter uncus and socii; valva with ventral edge conspicuously bulged medially, saccular process comparatively shorter and reflexed costal piliform setae present (absent in E. valentis ); the phallus bears an apical, spined digitate process, which is absent in E. valentis .

Distribution: India (Poona, NW Himalayas, Bombay, Nilgiris, Indian subcontinent (North) ( Swinhoe 1885, Hampson 1896a, Whalley 1963), Kerala, Uttarakhand, Bhubaneshwar ( Singh et al. 2022) Sikkim, Mizoram, Jharkhand (present study)), Formosa, Ceylon [ Sri Lanka], Thayetmyo, Burma [ Myanmar], E. Pegu, Borneo, Java, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tonga ( Hampson 1896a, Swinhoe 1885, Whalley 1963, Wang & Li 2005, Sutton et al. 2015).

Taxonomic note: The E. mesenterialis belongs to E. mesenterialis species-group (sensu Whalley 1963). The group is mainly characterised by the enlarged basal segment of antennae, bearing a small process and in male genitalia, the apex of the uncus is almost flat, laterally folded and the saccular process is short (shortest among all the congeners, except in E. borneoensis Hampson, 1916 , a member of nigromaculata species-group (sensu Whalley 1963) but having saccular process as small as in species of mesenterialis species-group).

Figures

FIGURES 9–16. Adult of Endotricha spp. (All India). 9, Sikkim, Ribdi (8778/H10); 10, Sikkim, Yuksom, HT (13270/H10); 11, Sikkim, Dodak, HT (13272/H10); 12, Sikkim, Mangan (8772/H10); 13, Mizoram, Hmuifang (8775/H10); 14, Meghalaya, Cherrapunji (8844/H10); 15, Sikkim, Dodak (8839/H10); 16, Sikkim, Dzongu, HT (13283/H10). Scale bar = 5 mm.

FIGURES 23–28. Male genitalia of Endotricha spp. 23, Sikkim, Dzongu, HT (13270/H10); 24, Sikkim, Dodak, HT (13272/ H10); 25, Sikkim, Mangan (8772/H10); 26, Mizoram, Hmuifang (8775/H10); 27, Meghalaya, Cherrapunji (8844/H10); 28, Sikkim, Dzongu, HT (13283/H10).