Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970

Ko, Jae-Ho, Bayarsaikhan, Ulziijargal, Lee, Tak-Gi & Bae, Yang-Seop, 2022, The monotypic genus Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970 (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Pyraustinae): two new species from Laos and a newly combined species from Korea, Zootaxa 5188 (3), pp. 264-274 : 265

Genus Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970

Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970: 299–300 , figs. 10, 14.

TS: Pionea nephelistalis Hampson, 1913 , by original designation. TL: Yichang, Hubei Province, China.

Diagnosis. Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970 , is similar to the genus Torulisquama Zhang & Li, 2010 , but can be distinguished by the following characters: semi-transparent areas of forewing absent (present in Torulisquama ); ventral side of forewing with a small bundle of scales (two large bundle of scales in Torulisquama ); in the male genitalia, apex of uncus rounded (acute in Torulisquama ); valva nearly subspatulate (nearly ovoid in Torulisquama ); fibula elongated, mostly sharpened at tip, with normal setae (blunt, mostly thick finger-shaped and having special setae in Torulisquama ); phallus stout, with deciduous palmate cornuti (cylindrical and having deciduous spines cornuti in Torulisquama ); in the female genitalia, the posterior and anterior apophyses shorter than Torulisquama ; ductus bursae mostly membranous, broader than Torulisquama (colliculum in Torulisquama ); corpus bursae a large rhomboidal signum (small rhomboidal signum in Torulisquama ), all of characters are presented in figs. 5–13 of present study, and Inoue (1982: pl. 308, figs. 2, 4) and Zhang & Li (2010: p. 322, figs. 8–9).

This genus is also similar to the genus Sinibotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1969 , but can be distinguished by the following characters: in the male genitalia, the uncus finger-shaped (triangular in Sinibotys ); fibula elongated, ventral and dorsal processes present, with hair-like setae (hooked and having special setae in Sinibotys ); sacculus U-shaped (V-shaped in Sinibotys ); phallus with deciduous palmate cornuti (deciduous bundle of spine-shaped cornuti in Sinibotys ); in the female genitalia, ostium narrow, partly sclerotized (broad, strongly sclerotized overall in Sinibotys ); antrum narrower than in Sinibotys ; ductus bursae nearly not coiled (weakly coiled in Sinibotys ); corpus bursae weakly wrinkled, with a rhomboidal signum (strongly wrinkled and having two signa in Sinibotys ), all of characters are presented in figs. 9–13 of present study, and Munroe & Mutuura (1969: p. 305, figs. 4, 8).

Distribution. Laos (new record), Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Russia, Korea, Japan.

Remarks. This genus is recorded in Laos for the first time. In male genitalia of this genus, fibula has ventral and dorsal overlapping processes (figs 9–11), which may look different depending on the position of the dissection and mounting on the slide. This should be carefully considered when preparing the genitalia.