Musotima instrumentalis Swinhoe

Taxonomy

The male holotype of Ambia instrumentalis Swinhoe, 1894: 209 is from India (Assam [Meghalaya], Shillong). It is in the BMNH. comb. n. to Musotima (Snellen, P. C. T. 1900 [1901]: 300).

Description

Taken from Swinhoe’s (1894) rather accurate description: Mainly white, with brown and blackish markings. FW with some grey suffusion on the basal portion, with pinkish ochreous uniform straight band; one subcostal, extending from near the base, connected with the costa by a short band, [another] to the costa near the apex, where it bends up; another from near the base runs along the wing below the median vein to near the outer margin, then straight up submarginally to the costa near the apex, outside the termination of the subcostal line, and is then joined to the apex by a small loop ; also a third band runs just above the posterior margin, where it curves up on the tornus. HW with a broad suffused black-brown median blotch. Palpi grey at the sides; thorax with grey patches the abdomen is mainly white. The forelegs are white with black femurae. UnS as above.

This species has not been reported in Borneo, many reports are mis-identifications of Musotima rectangularis Kenrick, 1907: 77, pl. 4, fig. 58 or failing to recognise Musotima sp. 11 (recorded in Borneo) which is very similar but that has slightly different FW lineation and those lines but they are black not mainly red-brown.

References

• Snellen, P. C. T. (1900 [1901]) Eenige Aanteekeningen over Pyraliden., Tijdschr. v. Ent., 43: 265-310, pl. 15-17. [in Dutch]
• Swinhoe, C. (1894b) XXIX New species of Pyrales from the Khasia Hills. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., Ser 6, 14 (81): 197-210.