Canaea similella Whalley
- Family: Thyrididae
- Subfamily: Striglininae
- Genus: Canaea
- Distribution: Sumatra.
- Habitat: Lowland and lower montane forest; <1520m.
- Wing Length: 40mm
Taxonomy
Holotype; Sumatra, Medan. Female, Plate 8, fig. C. similella (a). The male is on Plate 7. Sumatra, Nikurinji Valley. The male holotype of Canaea similella Whalley, 1971 from Sumatra (Medan) is in the NHM (Mi7314), genitalia slide #10876. Whalley (1971b:165, pl. 1, fig 2, pl. 6, fig. 32).
Description
The male is a pale orange brown with patchy areas of paler fenestration on the outer parts of the wings. It closely resembles C.semitessellata but the FW has more extensive pale patches. It has strongly bipectinate antennae. The labial palps have their third segment almost half the length of the second. Frons rounded, not projecting between eyes. Thorax pale brown with long tegulae. Hind tibiae with the outer spur of the distal spurs less than half the length of the inner spur. The tibiae bear a large scale tuft. Veins R2, R3 and R4 run close but do not anastomose.
Similar Species
There is sexual dimorphism both in size (the females are slightly larger) and in the colouration and patterning. The female, unknown to Whalley (1971b), is very similar to C. semitessellata, but the ground colour of the wings is a pale orange (RTS:128), and there is a series of distinct small oval hyaline fenestrae in the centre of the FW. The three in the centre of the HW are less obvious.
