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.Mythimna (Aletia)
exsanguis Guenee
Leucania exsanguis Guenee, 1852, Hist. nat. Insectes. Spec. gen. Lepid.
5:82.
Leucania hamifera Walker, 1862, J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Zool.) 6: 179, syn. n.
Leucania subnitens Swinhoe, 1890, Trans. ent. Soc. Lond., 1890: 218 syn. n.
Cirphis subdecora Wileman, 1912, Entomologist 45: 147.
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Diagnosis. The
species has the wings silvered below as in decississima Walker and, to a
lesser extent, calorai sp. n.; all three species have a black tuft
of hair-like scales at the base of the abdomen below. It is most similar to calorai,
having greyish rather uniform forewings; decississima has the
forewings straw colour, marked with brown, the brown particularly intense around
a longitudinal pale streak in the cell. In the male genitalia the harpe from the
sacculus is shorter than in the next two species and not curved; the neck of the
cucullus is longer than in the next species, and the cucullus itself distinctly
asymmetrical. The aedeagus vesica lacks lateral lobes and has a terminal group
of long cornuti, one much thicker than the rest.
Taxonomic notes. The
taxa exsanguis and hamifera were regarded as distinct by Calora
(1966), but it was not possible to confirm the differences he observed. The taxa
are therefore brought into synonymy.
Geographical
range. Indian
Subregion to Taiwan, Sundaland, Philippines and Sulawesi.
Habitat
preference. No
material has been taken in recent surveys. Bornean material seen is mainly from
lowland localities.
Biology. Piepers
& Snellen (1906) described the Javan larva. It is smooth, mottled yellowish-grey
with a median line and several others in a paler colour. The intersegmental
region is reddish.
The host-plant recorded was Saccharum
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