Simplicia
griseolimbalis
Snellen Simplicia griseolimbalis Snellen, 1886, Tijdschr. Ent., 29: 47. Simplicia marginata rufa Prout, 1929, Bull. Hill Mus. Witley, 3: 19, syn. n. Simplicia rufa occidentalis Holloway, 1982: 241, syn. n.
Simplicia griseolimbalis
Figure 286Figure 295
Diagnosis. This and the next species, bimarginata Walker, are only reliably separable on features of the genitalia, though Holloway (1982) suggested griseolimbalis (as rufa) was slightly larger, darker, with a generally more oblique and less curved forewing antemedial. This fascia can be obscure, and becomes readily rubbed in worn material. Both species have the general facies described under schaldusalis, but it is a duller brown; in bimarginata the gradation into black towards the submarginal is generally more intense, and females tend to be smaller than males, whereas they are usually larger in griseolimbalis. The forewing fasciae are irregular in course and somewhat crenate. Males have the forewing costa slightly concave (mostly straight in females), rendering the wing rather narrow. The male antennae are as in schaldusalis, but only the forelegs have pale brown hair-pencils. In the male genitalia, griseolimbalis has the uncus longer, less domed, and the aedeagus is longer, with slightly coarser scobination in the vesica than in bimarginata. The valves have the costa extended apically into a curved spur.
Taxonomic note. The holotype male of Simplicia griseolimbalis Snellen (Sumatra; in RMNH, Leiden) has genitalia as in rufa and occidentalis and therefore is senior synonym of these taxa, rufa becoming the more easterly subspecies.
Geographical range. Borneo, Sumatra, Singapore; New Guinea, Moluccas, Australia (Nielsen et al., 1996) (ssp. rufa); Solomons.
Habitat preference. This and the next species are impossible to distinguish reliably in field counts, but it is likely that both occur in forested and disturbed localities from the lowlands to the upper montane zone up to about 2000m. Chey (1994) recorded the complex as common in lowland softwood plantations. A sample dissected from material to hand indicated that bimarginata is relatively uncommon.
