Hermonassa cuprina Moore, 1882

Figs 30, 32, 34

Hermonassa cuprina Moore, 1882, Descriptions of new Indian Lepidopterous Insects from the Collection of the Late Mr. W.S. Atkinson. Heterocera (continued) ( Cymatophoridae - Herminiidae). Part II: 120; Hampson 1903: 357; Boursin 1967: 36; Poole, 1989: 502; Sugi 1995: 90, pl. 117, fig. 1, genit. fig. 691(♂), 721 (♀); Krusek and Behounek 1996a: pl. 50, fig. 2.

Type material.

Syntype(s): India, Prov. West Bengal, Darjeeling, Deposited in NHM London, United Kingdom and MNHU, Berlin, Germany), not examined.

Distribution and biology.

North India: Prov. Sikkim, Prov. West Bengal, Darjiling [Darjeeling].

Remarks.

Hermonassa cuprina has not yet been found in China. The syntypes of this species are deposited in NHM UK and MNHU (Moore 1882; Poole 1989). The lectotype is not designated. For the illustration of H. cuprina (Figs 30, 32, 34) we follow the treatment and illustrations in Sugi (1995) of this species from north India.

The Hermonassa dictyota species group

The Hermonassa dictyota species group externally can be characterized by the relatively large size (wingspan 38-40 mm), the robust habitus and the reticulate forewing pattern atypical for most Hermonassa spp. The male genitalia of these species are rather uniform and characterized by having an apically swollen or spatulate uncus, anchor-like, apically hooked juxta, moderate harpe, variable in length saccular extension and the presence of a pollex at the apical part of the valva. In the female genitalia, the antevaginal plate is large, with a deep cut in the centre, a sclerotised antrum, the relatively short ductus bursae and the sclerotised proximal part of the corpus bursae. The Hermonassa dictyota species group comprises the following four species: H. dictyota, H. legraini, H. yixincheni, and H. albimacula sp. nov.