Patissa xanthoperas Hampson

Taxonomy

The holotype of Scirpophaga xanthoperas Hampson, 1895: 913 is from Sumatra.

• syn. Patissa melanostigma Strand, 1910: 202, 208. TL Indonesia (Sumatra, Siak) (Globiz).

Comb. n. to Patissa (Lewvanich, 1981: 189).

Description

A mainly shiny white moth. On the FW note the black spot in the cell and the yellow tinted apex. The male antennae are finely pubescent with thick dorsal scaling forming black and white rings. Dorsally the palpi are pale brown  as is a narrow neck collar and the basal parts of the legs.

In comparison to the genus Scirpophaga Treitschke, 1832, the wings are broader and the females lack the distinctive anal scale tuft. The ocelli are vestigial in both sexes and the male has a ‘female-type’ retinaculum. (RTS 1994: 172). This genus is not markedly sexually dimorphic but the females are marginally larger in this species.

The illustration is of the same male specimen as RTS (1994, Pl. 29, fig. 7) from Thailand. No Bornean specimens seen.

References

• Hampson, G. F., (1895 [1896]) On the classification of the Schoenobiinae and Crambinae, two subfamilies of moths of the family Pyralidae. Proc. Zool Soc. London 1895: 5: 897-974.
• Strand, E. (1910) Schmetterlinge aus Zentral- und West-Sumatra, gesammelt von Herrn Dr. Max Moszkowski. Dt. ent. Z., Iris, Dresden, 24 (10): 190-208.
• Lewvanich, A. (1981) A revision of the old world species of Scirpophaga (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Entomol. 42 (4): 185-298.
• RTS (1994): 172, Pl. 29, fig. 7.
• [RTS] Robinson, G.S., Tuck, K.R. & Shaffer, M. (1994) A Field Guide to the Smaller Moths of South-East Asia, Malaysian Nature Society Kuala Lumpur & Natural History Museum, London, 311 pp. 51 text figs, 32 pls..