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Gymnoscelis Mabille
Type species: pumilata Hübner = rufifasciata Haworth,
Europe.
Synonyms: Dolerosceles Meyrick (type species erymna Meyrick,
Tonga); Iramba Moore (type species tibialis Moore, Sri Lanka, also
Java).
Gymnoscelis has tended to be rather loosely applied to brown eupitheciines with
rather elongate wings with, usually, a biangular postmedial fascia on at least
the forewing. The male hind-tibia has only a single pair of spurs. An attempt is
made below to identify characters of the male and female abdomen to support this
definition.
The male genitalia are rather elongated. The tegumen is expanded, often
considerably overlapping the rather short uncus. The labides are large, the
valves narrow, either tapering or with a slight step in the saccular margin. The
vinculum and saccus are usually rather rectangular, with broad scent-pencils
associated with the distal angles. There is a central longitudinal bar of
thickening or even a flange to the saccus. The aedeagus is usually slender, the
vesica with at most one or two cornuti, some species having a single one
strongly curved (species from latipennis Prout to mecrochyta Prout
below, and also chlorobapta Turner (Holloway, 1979) and oblenita Prout
(Peninsular Malaysia)). The octavals are usually very slender, flexed slightly
inwards subapically, away from an ovate pad-like structure.
The female genitalia have general spining in the bursa, though this is
sometimes restricted to a small area, but there is usually a distinct clump of
finer spines as well. In some species, e.g. phoenicopus Prout below, this
consists of a fan of spines associated with a sclerotised plate.
Some species have the male octavals more robust, e.g. erymna, sara Robinson
(Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu), phoenicopus and allies.
Male genitalic characters serve to unite G. imparatalis Walker
and allies with the rest of the genus, though the female bursa is
unusual in having ribbon-like thickenings associated with broader patches of
spines, reminiscent of Micrulia Warren.
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