Rhotana albata Melichar, 1903

Zelazny, B. & Webb, M. D., 2011, 3071, Zootaxa 3071, pp. 1-307 : 97-98

Rhotana albata Melichar, 1903

Rhotana albata Melichar, 1903: 62

( Figs. 64, 65, 240)

Redescription. Forewings 2.2 times longer than wide, length 6.2–6.5 mm. Colour stramineous; mesonotum light brown; fore and middle tarsi dark brown to brown; tips of hind-tarsi stramineous or brown; abdominal tergites stramineous to dirty brown. Forewings glassy, greyish brown across first two subcostal sectors, along parts of Cu, Cu1, Ms1, and along apical crossveins; veins stramineous. Hindwings colourless; a small elongated, dark brown mark across first median sector. Facial carinae contiguous up to level of antennae; rostrum reaching hind coxae; subantennal process well -, lateral carinae of pronotum poorly developed. Forewings with Sc+R fork just distad of basal third; apex of Sc slightly sinuate; Ms1 branched just distad of its basal quarter; Ms1b touching middle of Cu1; a triangle at base of Ms1. Pygofer of male genitalia with short, rounded, lateral projections. Genital styles oval; proximal dorsal process short and slender; distal dorsal process long. Apical part of aedeagus hook-shaped with a longitudinal impression on the outer side; ending in two curved and pointed lobes, the right one shorter and serrated.

Etymology. The species name is a Latin adjective (albatus, -a, -um = dressed in white).

Type material. Lectotype ♂ (here designated) (forewing 6.5 mm, body 3.7 mm) SRI LANKA; labels: 1) Ceylon / Biró 1902 2) Pattipola / 2000 m 3) Collectio / Dr. L. Melichar / Moravské museum Brno 4) albata m./ det. Melichar 5) Transcriptio / Rhotana / albata sp. n. ♀ / Holotypus / L. Melichar det. 6) Holo-/ typus ( MMBC) .

Note. Melichar described this species from an unspecified number of specimens from Sri Lanka "Pattipola, 2000 m von Biro im Jahre 1902 gesammelt. (Museum in Budapest.)". One type each with these data are present in MMBC and HNHM. We designate the specimen in MMBC as lectotype .

Other material examined. SRI LANKA: Paradeniya , III.1906, 1 ♀ , Distant ( BMNH) .

Distribution. Sri Lanka.

Diagnosis. Rhotana albata resembles R. fuscofasciata Distant and R. vitriceps (Stål) , both also found in Sri Lanka. It can be recognized by the small and elongated mark on the hindwings, the stramineous veins of the forewings, and the two pointed lobes at the tip of the male aedeagus.