Ropica dorsalis Schwarzer, 1925

Fig. 29

Ropica formosana var. dorsalis Schwarzer, 1925b: 145. TL: China (Taiwan); TD: SFNF

Distribution.

Palaearctic Region: China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Taiwan, Zhejiang); Japan, Nepal (Hayashi 1972, 1982; Lazarev and Murzin 2019; Lin and Yang 2019). Oriental Region: India; Laos; Vietnam (Lazarev 2019; Lin and Yang 2019).

Macau records.

1♀, Cotai Ecological Zone, 1st zone, 14 Oct 2015, leg. Feng-Long Jia (SYSU); 1♂, ibidem 7 Apr 2018, leg. Wei-Cai Xie (SYSU); Great Taipa, 7 May 2019, on wall in ablution block, R Perissinotto & L Clennell (IZCAS); ibidem 12 May 2021, Lynette Clennell (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/78523371); St. Francis Xavier’s Parish [Coloane], 30 Apr 2021, Lynette Clennell (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76108157).

Remarks.

Macau specimens exhibit a total length of 6.0-6.5 mm and a maximum width of 2.0-2.5 mm. The species is nocturnal and attracted to artificial lights. In the past, it has been misidentified and confused with R. honesta (Hua 2002; Chou 2004, 2008; Yiu 2009), with consequent mix up of their respective distribution records (Hua 2002; Lin and Yang 2019). According to Gressitt (1951), Cucumis sativus is among its host plants and in Hong Kong larvae have been found boring into stems of Cucumis melo (Yiu 2009).