Cydalima diaphanalis Walker
- Family: Crambidae
- Subfamily: Spilomelinae
- Tribe: Margaroniini
- Genus: Cydalima
- Distribution: Burma, W. Malaysia, PNG, Sabah, Sarawak, Indonesia (Aru, Java, Irian Jaya), PNG, New Britain, Australia, Solomon Is.
- Habitat: Lowland to lower montane.
- Wing Length: 11mm
Taxonomy
The holotype of Margaronia diaphanalis Walker, 1865 [1866]: 1365 is from the Molluccas (Aru). Comb. n. to Cydalima Lederer, 1863: 397 (Shaffer et al. 1996).
- syn. Botys margaronialis Walker, 1865 [1866]: 1442 (Shaffer et al. 1996). TL Java;
- syn. Margaronia plumifera Butler 1882: 236 (Shaffer et al. 1996). TL New Britain.
Description
A pearly white sp. with a pale brown subcostal area. Unlike in the closely related C. laticostalis Guenée, 1854 this tapers near to the apex. The veins are a very pale brown and there is a distinctive elongate dark spot on the cross veins at the outer end of the FW cell. The antennae and patagium are ochreous. There are usually indistinct interneural spots on the wing margins but these may be absent as specimens are variable and all may not be conspecific. See the morphotypes Cydalima spp. 1 & 4). These representatives of the C. diaphanalis group may indicate a sp. complex. See Cydalima laticostalis and C. pfeifferae.
References
- Guenée, M. A. (1854) Deltoïdes et pyralites. In Boisduval, J.A. & Guenée, A., Hist. nat. des Insectes (Spec. gén. Lépid.) Vol. 8, 448pp. + 10 pls., Librarie Encyclopédique de Roret: Paris. Lederer, J., (1863) Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Pyralidinen. Wien. entomol. Monat. 7: 243-280, 331-502, pl. 2-18. Meyrick, E.(1886) Descriptions of Lepidoptera from the South Pacific. Trans. ent. Soc. Lond.:189-296. 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. (1865 [1866 Jan 13]) List Spec Lepid. Ins. Coll. B. M., Cat. Lepid. Heterocera. 34, (Suppl. 4): 1121-1533.
- Butler, A.G. (1882b) XX Descriptions of new species of Lepidoptera chiefly from Duke-of-York Island and New Britain. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. 5, (10): 226-238.