Margarosticha nigrescens Speidel

Taxonomy

The male holotype of Margarosticha nigrescens Speidel, 2003 from the Philippines is in the MfNH, Berlin. In BOLD are two similar specimens from Kalimantan Timur.

• RMNH taxa #19664
• RMNH taxa #19665

which have been DNA sequenced (Ratnasingham & Hebert, 2007).

Description

Although a rather dingy sp. it has the typical Margarosticha patterning with sub marginal white fascia with a distinct white sub terminal fascia on the FW and the  white median band on the HW whose distal area is speckled grey black and which has at least four, large, marginal eyespots. It differs from many of its congeners in the brown patterning, being dark rather than fulvous and many of the paler areas are also dusted with black scales. It is superficially similar to several Nymphicula spp. but they do not have a subtermennal white fascia on the FW and a whitish median band on the HW.

References

• Speidel, W. (2003) New species of aquatic moths from the Philippines (Lepidoptera, Crambidae). Insecta Koreana, 20: 7-49.
• Ratnasingham, S. & Hebert, P.D.N.(2007) Barcoding - BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data System (www.barcodinglife.org), Molecular Ecology Notes (Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.: 10 pp.