Alheita Schaus, 1928

Laurent, Ryan A. St & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2019, Reclassification of the Sack-bearer Moths (Lepidoptera, Mimallonoidea, Mimallonidae), ZooKeys 815, pp. 1-114 : 15

Alheita Schaus, 1928 Figs 13, 50, 101, 162

Type species.

Cicinnus anoca Schaus, 1905.

Diagnosis.

Small mimallonids with consistently short, triangular wings, always with a white postmedial lunule on the forewing, though this may be faint in species with accented veins in the broad, darker postmedial region (a character which itself is rather diagnostic of Alheita ). Ventrally largely unmarked except for discal spot and significantly darker brown region of forewing delimited by the outline of the dorsal postmedial lunule. The similar genus Tarema is not so cleanly marked ventrally and has less falcate forewings.

Apomorphies.

(1) Gnathos plate typical of Alheitini , but with a thickly sclerotized mesal band that runs along it vertically (Fig. 13a); (2) Uncus rounded with paired mesal teeth (Fig. 13b).

Remarks.

We were unable to include a female A. anoca in our figures. Female Alheita are generally not largely distinct from males, with only the usual degree of sexual dimorphism (larger size, broader wings) which is usually observed in related genera.