Fascilunaria, CHOI, 2000

CHOI, SEI-WOONG, 2000, A Cladistic Analysis of the Therini: A New Synonym of the Cidariini (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Larentiinae), American Museum Novitates 3295, pp. 1-26 : 21

Fascilunaria , new genus

TYPE SPECIES: Cidaria cyphoschema Prout, 1926 .

DIAGNOSIS: Synapomorphies for Fascilunaria include bipectinate male antennae, the thin and crescent central fascia of the forewing with a discal dot united with costal part of the antemedial line, the male genitalia with a thick and short uncus, a saccular process, cornuti absent from vesica and the female genitalia with a simple sterigma, anterior to the antrum funnel shaped, a colliculum, and the large corpus bursae without a signum.

DESCRIPTION: Antenna. Male bipectinate with short pectination; female filiform. Frons white and ochreous scales. Labial palp long, about twice the eye diameter. Legs brownish, foreleg tarsal joints distinct with white scales. Metathorax dorsum with blackish tufts. Forewing grayish; basal line blackish, slanted; antemedial line blackish, medially strongly indented; postmedial line medially projected; central fascia thin. Hindwing whitish, with a black discal dot; postmedial line very weak. Male genitalia. Uncus short, thick. Tegumen dome shaped. Anellus lobe digitiform, medially and apically with hairs. Saccus rounded, medially projected. Valva weakly sclerotized; costa distally projected; sacculus with a process. Aedeagus slender, rod shaped, with a tubular vesica; cornutus absent. Female genitalia. Papillae anales simple. Anterior apophyses half of posterior apophyses in length. Sterigma simple, dorsally with thin, sclerotized stripes; antrum large, funnel shaped. Ductus bursae short, membraneous, with a colliculum. Corpus bursae large, subspherical; signum absent.

DISCUSSION: Fascilunaria cyphoschema has four apomorphies: discal dot united with the costal part of antemedial line (character #9-1), costa of the male valva with a distal expansion (#26-1), ductus bursae short (#41- 0), and ductus bursae anterior to antrum funnel shaped (#44-1).

F. cyphoschema is similar to several members of Heterothera in the shape of the central fascia of the forewing as well as the anellus lobe and saccular process of the male genitalia. However, other aspects of the male and female genitalia of F. cyphoschema are different from those of Heterothera: uncus thick, short, and less sclerotized; cornutus absent; sterigma simple; anterior to antrum funnel shaped; membraneous dustus bursae with a colliculum, and corpus bursae large. In the present analysis, the results demonstrate that F. cyphoschema forms a basal lineage of the clade comprising Heterothera + Thera + Pennithera + Diathera ( fig. 61 ). This species is known from southwestern China, northern Vietnam and Burma (Choi, 1998a).

ETYMOLOGY: The name refers to the shape of the central fascia of forewing, central fascia (Fascia) + crescent (lunaria).

Figures

Fig. 61. One cladogram derived from successive weighting approach using NONA. See fig. 60 for generic abbreviations and symbols. Each node number is indicated.