R. hinomaru Fujioka, 1970 syn. nov. R. nissa (Kollar, [1844]) Fig. 9

Rapala hinomaru Fujioka, 1970: 29

Type Locality: Dhankuta, Nepal

Taxonomic Note: Rapala hinomaru Fujioka, 1970, was described from a single female specimen collected in 1963 from Dhankuta, Nepal. Although Fujioka (1970) stated that the holotype was deposited at the National Science Museum of Japan (now the National Museum of Nature and Science, Taitō, Japan), it is actually housed at CUBM. In this study, the holotype was examined using color images of its dorsal and ventral sides provided by CUBM.

Based on images of the holotype (Fig. 9), the specimen is undoubtedly conspecific with the R. nissa complex. Fujioka (1970) distinguished R. hinomaru from R. nissa primarily by the narrower wing margins toward the apex (a character not present in the holotype), a prominent but irregular white discal line on the ventral hindwing, and significantly longer tails. However, these characters are also observed in individuals of R. nissa, a species which exhibits considerable morphological variation.

It does not correspond to R. rectivitta, which is characterized by straighter and often darker postdiscal bands (Wynter-Blyth 1957). The primary question remains whether R. hinomaru corresponds to R. nissa or R. huangi . Fujioka’s (1970) specimen closely resembles the holotype of R. nissa (see Nakamura & Seki 2017 p. 76 Fig. 2B) and the R. nissa individual depicted in this study (Fig. 8b). Although R. nissa and R. huangi cannot always be reliably distinguished without genitalia examination, the discal band on the ventral forewing serves as an important diagnostic character (Nakamura & Seki 2019). The images labeled as R. nissa in Fujioka (1970) (p. 85, Pl. 11, Figs. 3, 4) are more accurately attributable to R. huangi, based on the outwardly curved postdiscal bands on the ventral forewings. In contrast, the holotype of R. hinomaru (p. 85, Pl. 11, Figs. 5, 6) is most likely R. nissa . Thus, Fujioka (1970) appears to have misidentified these two sympatric species from Nepal (pers. comm. Nakamura 2025). Based on this, we herein propose treating R. hinomaru as a junior subjective synonym of R. nissa, syn. nov. This revision contributes to the stabilization of the taxonomic framework of the Rapala genus in Nepal.

Type Material Examined: Holotype ♀: Nepal. Koshi Province. Dhankuta. Darapani–The Tombol Bridge, 25.vi.1963, 1000 m, leg. T. Fujioka, in CUBM (Fig. 9).

Wingspan: 31 mm.