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Sauris Guenée
Type species: hirudinata Guenée (spelt hirundinata in
Fletcher (1979)).
Synonymy: Anisocolpia Warren (type species ignobilis Butler,
N. India); Anthierax Warren (type species subfulva Warren,
Solomons); Coptogonia Warren (type species turpipennis Warren,
Batjan); Helminthoceras Warren (type species sinuaticornis Warren,
New Guinea); Holorista Warren (type species proboscidaria Walker,
Sri Lanka); Pseudoschista Warren (type species bicolor Warren,
India); Remodes Guenée (type species abortivata Guenée = hirudinata).
Sauris is defined by a number of features: veins Rs and M1 are totally fused in
the male hindwing; in the male genitalia the uncus is flanked by prominent,
rather triangular socii bearing setae; the apex of the valve costa bears a
characteristic lobe invested with hair-like setae (subapical process of Dugdale
(1980)), and the valve apex itself usually bears a conspicuous brush of similar
hair-setae (cucullus of Dugdale (1980)) that extends basally down the length of
the interior of the valve (reduced in some species), and maybe retained in a
central diaphragmal pouch; the ventral margin of the valve is expanded, with
fine transverse pleats over the expanded part; the female ductus seminalis joins
the genitalia opposite the opening of the appendix bursae. In many species there
are small setal patches laterally on the male fourth sternite (e.g. Figs 313,
319). Another common feature (seen in the majority of Bornean species) is the
pleating of the male hindwing apex into several lobes, usually invested with
denser, darker scales: this is usually associated with a marginal cleft on the
forewing just anterior to the tornus. The male hind-tibia and tarsus are
sometimes tufted or the latter inflated.
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Sauris is much more species-rich than related genera, extending from the Indian
subregion to the Pacific as far east as Niue I. Dugdale noted a dozen species in
Australia, and there are at least thirteen in Borneo.
The larva of the type species is described below. Singh (1953) noted the
genus to have a finely granulate larval skin and unusual fringed spinnerets. The
host range (Singh, 1953; Murphy, 1990; Holloway, 1996c; Bell MS; unpublished IIE
records) is wide: Cassine (Celastracea); Excoecaria (Euphorbiaceae);
Alseodaphne, Cinnamomum (Lauraceae); Dendrophthoe, Loranthus (Loranthaceae);
Lagerstroemia (Lythraceae); Syzygium (Myrtaceae); Sapindus (Sapindaceae).
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