Miltochrista lavides, Volynkin & Singh & Černý & Kirti & Datta, 2020

Volynkin, Anton V., Singh, Navneet, Černý, Karel, Kirti, Jagbir Singh & Datta, Harvinder Singh, 2020, Revision of the Miltochrista obliquilinea species-group, with descriptions of four new species (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Lithosiini), Zootaxa 4780 (3), pp. 448-470 : 449

The Miltochrista obliquilinea species-group

Members of the M. obliquilinea species-group are small moths with yellowish coloration of the body and wings. The sexual dimorphism is well-expressed: males are slightly smaller in size and have a modified forewing venation, subapically concave costa, a characteristic fringe of hair-like androconial scales between the cell apex and the costa, more elongated discal spot, and more strongly zigzagged postmedial line. In the male genitalia, both the distal costal and saccular processes are present (the latter one is reduced in M. areolifera ), the distal membranous lobe of valva is present in most species (absent in M. areolifera and M. lavides sp. n.), and the vesica bears a bunch of cornuti originating from a heavily sclerotised plate-like base. In the female genitalia, the ductus bursae is membranous, without antrum. The corpus bursae is strongly spinulose, scobinated, bearing a large thick-walled accessory bursae situated posteriorly. Most species lack appendix bursae (present in M. areolifera only). In most species, the ductus seminalis originates from the left side of the anterior section of the corpus bursae, but in M. stenovalva sp. n. and M. lavides sp. n. it originates from the accessory bursae.

The species-group is closely related to the M. cuneifera species-group (includes M. cuneifera ( Walker, 1862) , M. luzonica ( Wileman & South, 1919) and M. fascicornuta Volynkin, 2017 ), but male genitalia of the M. obliquilinea species-group differ by their well-developed distal costal process (absent in the M. cuneifera species-group), the presence of a bunch of cornuti originating from a heavily sclerotised plate-like base (in the M. cuneifera species-group cornuti are separated from each other and have no broadened base). In female genitalia, the M. obliquilinea species-group differs from the M. cuneifera species-group (illustrated by Holloway (2001)) by the absence of antrum (that is present in the M. cuneifera species-group), the presence of an accessory bursae situated posteriorly (that is absent in the M. cuneifera species-group), and the corpus bursae more or less evenly covered with numerous spinules (whereas in the M. cuneifera species-group the corpus bursae bears band-like clusters of short but robust denticles only).