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Bracca Hübner
Type species: bajularia Clerck, Moluccas.
Synonyms: Cosmethis Hübner (type species barbara Stoll, Ambon); Duga Walker (type species pinguis Walker,
Ambon); Arycanda
Walker (type species maculosa Walker); Panaethia Guenée (type
species georgiata Guenée); Tigridoptera Herrich-Schäffer (type
species exul Herrich-Schäffer, Java).
A full account and cladistic analysis of this genus may be found in
Holloway (1991), with some preliminary observations in Holloway (1984b).
The male antennae are ciliate. The forewing has a fovea and there is no
setal comb on the third sternite. The species included exhibit a range of facies
features: those from Borneo have a series of broken transverse black fasciae on
a dull, pale blue ground, but others include dull orange streaks, yellow
hindwings and extensive white areas. The abdomen is usually at least partially
dull, pale orange. The blue and black pattern is seen also in Craspedosis Butler
(See Craspedosis Butler), the geometrine genus Dysphania Hübner and the agaristine
noctuid genus Longicella Jordan.
The genus is most clearly defined on genitalic and other abdominal
features. The males of all except a subgroup endemic to New Guinea have
bifurcate coremata between sternites 6, 7 and 8. The valve costa has a strong
central lobe bearing hair setae. The transverse band of sclerotisation between
this and the sacculus has a complex pair of lobes, and there is often further
ornamentation at the distal end of the sacculus. The exterior of the base of the
valve often bears a narrow corema. The uncus is frequently bifid.
The female genitalia have complex sclerotisation of the sterigma, but
most species have a sclerotised band in the bursa as well as the usual dentate,
mushroom-like signum. This band bears transverse ridges of small spines and can
be longitudinal or form a ring round the base of the bursa.
The larvae of one of the Australasian species (B. rotundata Butler)
are strikingly marked, mainly black, with orange rings and white patches. There
were no associated host data.
The genus is most diverse in tropical Australasia and Sulawesi. There
are three species in Borneo. The genus does not appear to extend further into
mainland Asia than the extreme south of Thailand, near the Malaysian border.
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