Pilipectus Bethune-Baker, 1910

Choi, Sei-Woong, Heo, Un-Hong & Kim, Sung-Soo, 2021, Four species of Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera), new to Korea, Zootaxa 4999 (6), pp. 582-590 : 587-589

Genus Pilipectus Bethune-Baker, 1910

Type species. Pilipectus ocellatus Bethune-Baker, 1910 .

1 * Pilipectus prunifera ( Hampson, 1894)

( Figs. 1D , 2E, 2F, 2G )

Cacyparis prunifera Hampson, 1894 , The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Moths 2: 127. Type locality: Sikhim , Ceylon .

Pilipectus prunifera: Bethune-Baker, 1910 , Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6: 444.

Material examined. 1 male, Korea: JN: Shinan, Is. Gageo-do, Mt. Doksil-san , E 125° 06′ 50″, N 34°04′07″, 176 m above sea level, 10. September 2012, Sei-Woong Choi. NIBR specimen no. VLYVIN0000009699 ( NIBR).

Diagnosis. Moths of Pilipectus show a distinctive pattern of transverse white striae on a brown and blackishbrown forewing with a subapical indigo-blue patch and other small blue patches at the margin, and a simple whitish or medium brownish hindwing. This species can be distinguished by the pale brownish forewing with white striae and a subapical dark ochreous patch, and the whitish hindwing.

Description. Wingspan 30 mm. Antennae filiform; frons covered with light brown scales; labial palpi light brown, dorsally dark brownish, long, upturned, strongly projected beyond frons, 3 rd segment long, slender. Body whitish, hindtibia with long whitish sexual tufts. Forewing light grayish in ground color; basally and centrally with multiple whitish vertical lines; subtermen with a large, triangular brown spot where two yellow dots are present on the top and bottom of the dot; apex and termen dark brownish with multiple whitish vertical lines. Hindwing whitish in ground color, distally slightly darker. Abdomen light gray. Male eighth abdominal tergite horseshoe-shaped; sternite long, parallel sclerites with a pouch of coremata.

Male genitalia. Uncus long, curved, apex sharply pointed; tegumen long, twice as long as the vinculum; transtilla medially fused producing small process; saccus short. Valva long, slender; sacculus very short; clavus not differentiated; basal plate of harpe long and narrow, erect part spine-like short and sharp. Aedeagus long, rod-shaped; coecum digitate; distally strongly projected; vesical with two cornuti, a smaller, conical, and acutely pointed, and a relatively larger, plate-shaped.

Distribution. Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

Remarks. The genus is the firstly recorded from Korea. The biology of P. prunifera is largely unknown, on the other hand, P. cyclopis Hampson, 1912 feeds on Alseodaphne (Lauraceae) ( Holloway 2005).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Adults of four species of Noctuoidea in Korea. A, Chytonix brunneofascia sp. nov., Holotype; B, Gynaephora atrata sp. nov. Holotype; C. Utetheisa pulchelloides; D. Pilipectus prunifera. Scale bar = 5mm.

FIGURE 2. Male and female genitalia of four species in Korea. A, B, Chytonix brunneofascia sp. nov.; C, D, Gynaephora atrata sp. nov.; E, F, G. Pilipectus prunifera; H, Utetheisa pulchelloides. Scale bar = 1mm.