Chalcidoptera pyrrhocosma Meyrick

Taxonomy

The holotype of Analthes pyrrhocosma Meyrick, 1894: 460 is from S.E. Borneo [Kalimantan Timur, Samarinda?].

This sp. is treated as a junior subjective syn. of Chalcidoptera emissalis (Walker, 1865 [1866]: 1421) by Shaffer et al. (1996) but there are specimens with slightly different FW patterning. So we illustrate those separately under C. pyrrhocosma.

Description

The males and females of this sp. appear much more alike than many Chalcidoptera spp. with a netted pattern of red on a yellow base. The male has more red colouration. C. pyrrhocosma Meyrick is said to be syn. (Shaffer et al. 1996) but there are similar specimens with slightly different FW patterning. The two red patches on the tip of the FW are separate in this morphospecies whereas in the typical emissalis female they form a continuous band. So we illustrate them separately here as C. pyrrhocosma? The association of male and female in many Chalcidoptera spp. needs confirmation.

References

• Meyrick, E. (1894) XVIII On Pyralidina from the Malay Archipelago, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1894: 455-480.
• Shaffer, M., & Nielsen, E.S. & Horak, M. (1996) Pyraloidea (In Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangji (Eds.)), Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia; 164-199, CSIRO, Australia.
• Walker, F. (1865c [Oct 14]) List Spec Lepid. Ins. Coll. B. M., Cat. Lepid. Heterocera. 33, (Suppl. 3): 707-1533.