Cotachena castoralis Walker
- Family: Crambidae
- Subfamily: Spilomelinae
- Genus: Cotachena
- Distribution: Sri Lanka, India (S., Sikkim, Andaman Is), Moluccas, Sabah, Sarawak, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Talaud Is., China (Hainan), Philippines, Seram, Timor, Irian Jaya, PNG, Bismark Arch., Louisade Arch., New Britain, Australia.
- Habitat: Lowland to lower montane primary and disturbed forest & cultivated areas <1520m.
- Wing Length: 12mm
Taxonomy
The holotype of Botys castoralis Walker, 1859d: 693 from Sarawak is in the the Oxford U.M.N.H. The type #1163 was collected by A.R. Wallace. Genitalia slide 414-1961. Provisional comb. n. to Cotachena. (As Samea in LepIndex & Globiz).
- syn. Samea purpurascens Moore 1877: 615. TL Sumatra (as syn. in LepIndex)
- syn. Heterocnephes incisalis Snellen, 1899a: 74, pl. 4, figs. 2, 3. T.L. Indonesia, (Sumatra, Deli). As syn. (Globiz). The type was not found in RMNH Leiden by Munroe et al. (1958: 77) It may be in Dommerche Museum, a paratype? from the Bismark Arch., New Pomerania, is in MfNH Berlin. Treated as a syn. of castoralis in LepIndex but that needs checking as the paratype is somewhat dissimilar in the white spots on the costa.
Description
A mainly grey-brown sp. with four hyaline areas on the FW. Note the spot ante-medianly on the FW sub-costa, the rectangular square in the cell and the spectacular hyaline coronet on the FW apex. The purplish brown HW is crossed by darker antemedian and post-median lines. The head and thorax are a grey-brown as is the abdomen which has white intersegmental rings. See Cotachena hicana Turner 1915, T.L. Australia (Port Darwin) which is very similar. Snellen (1899a) considered Entephria appensalis Snellen, 1884 was similar.
References
- Moore, F. (1877) The Lepidopterous Fauna of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Proc. zool. soc. Lond: 580-632, pls. 58-60.
- Walker, F. (1859d [May 10]) Pyralides, In; List Spec. Lepid. Ins. Coll. B. M., Cat. Lepid. Heterocera. Ser. 4, 18: 509-798.
- Snellen, P. C. T. (1899a) Eenige aanteekeningen over Pyraliden Tijdschr. v. Ent., 42 (2): 58-97, Pl. 3 & 4. [in Dutch].