Dahira melichari Haxaire, 2021

Jiang, Zhuo-Heng, Xu, Zhen-Bang, Lin, Yi-Ting, Liu, Chang-Qiu, Wang, Xin & Hu, Shao-Ji, 2025, New records and notes of hawkmoths from China (Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea), Zootaxa 5673 (2), pp. 151-188 : 181-183

Dahira melichari Haxaire, 2021 [Wĸöṣ天ẽ]

( Figures 44–46 )

Dahira melichari Haxaire, 2021 ; European Entomologist, 13 (3): 126; TL: S. Xizang, China.

Material examined. CHINA: ♂, Changning County ( 2359m), Baoshan, Yunnan, 25-VI-2013, Chuan-Hui Yi leg. [ SFUC] .

Diagnosis. Male ( Figure 44A–B ): The head, thorax, and abdomen are dorsally grey with a transverse band of black-brown hair; the ventral side is reddish-brown. The forewing is broadly triangular with a pointed apex, and a smooth outer margin. The upperside has a greyish-brown ground color, with a grey waved patch at the base and two crenulate brown stripes in the medial region. A zigzag postmedial band with large silver scales edges the outer side, which also has a row of black dots, and there is a prominent olive eyespot bordered by brown scales near the tornus. Near the apex, there is a slender brown patch. The underside is brown with two zigzag submarginal lines, and silver scales cover the area from the submarginal zone to the margin. Hindwing: The upperside is uniformly greyish-brown, lacking the silver stripes and chestnut patch near the tornus found in similar species. The underside is reddish-brown, with curved medial and postmedial lines and a large silver patch near the apex.

Female: Unknown.

Male genitalia ( Figure 45A–D ): The uncus is strongly bifid, with broad-based apical sclerotized fingers, each of which ends in a darkly sclerotized apical spur. The juxta is elongate and V-shaped. The valve is small and rounded, with a concave inner surface, and the ventral margin encompasses most of the sharp, hook-like harpe. The phallus is slender and slightly curved, with an anterior lobe that has a bifid, double hammerhead shape.

Distribution. China (W Yunnan, S. Xizang).

Biological notes. This species was collected in high elevation evergreen broad-leaf forest, attracted to light at night ( Figure 46 ).

Remarks. This rare moth was previously known only from the holotype male from S. Xizang, China. We here record a second individual from Changning, Boshan, Yunnan from China, which is quite distant from the type locality. The species is characterized by its extremely uniform pattern, the conspicuous silver patch on forewings and the male genitalia. Our findings suggest that the distributional range of this Dahira species is broader than previously documented, warranting further field investigations.

Figures

FIGURE 44. Habitus of Dahira melichari, male, Changning, Baoshan, Yunnan, China. (A) Upperside; (B) underside. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 45. Male genitalia of Dahira melichari, male, Changning, Baoshan, Yunnan, China. (A) Lateral view of genital ring, valves removed; (B) Right valve; (C) Phallus.

FIGURE 46. Habitat of Dahira melichari in Changning, Baoshan, Yunnan, China.