Aedia olivacea Walker comb. n. (Plate 2, Figs 75, 77)
Idicara
olivacea Walker, [1863] 1864, J. Proc.
Linn. Soc. (Zool.), 7: 172.
Catephia thricophora Hampson, 1894, Fauna Br.
India, Moths, 2: 483.
Diagnosis. This and the next species are the largest
in the genus and have very similar facies. Males in both have prominent tufts
of scales on the hind‑tibia and on the hindwing dorsum, the latter
tending to be more prominent in lobata Prout, which also has a more
prominent, falcate tail at the dorsum. The forewings in lobata are
generally darker, richer, more indigo and green in tint, and the postmedial is
more more regularly curved, slightly beaded. The male genitalia have the dorsal
extensions of the tegumen apically rounded in olivacea but shorter,
obliquely angular and marginally blackened at the apex in lobata. The
valves are shorter relative to the tegumen and uncus in lobata. The
aedeagus of lobata is more slender, and the part basal to the ductus
ejaculatorius is relatively longer; the apical spur is only half the size of
that of olivacea.
Taxonomic note. Prout, in her description of the
next species, indicated that Hampson considered thricophora Hampson (t.
loc. Burma) to be a synonym of olivacea, but Poole (1989) listed it
as a distinct species. The former opinion is accepted here.
Geographical range. Borneo, Burma, Sri Lanka, Java,
Bali, Sulawesi.
Habitat preference. The holotype was taken by A.R. Wallace in
Sarawak, probably in the lowlands. There is also a specimen from Samarinda in
the lowlands of Kalimantan. In recent surveys, singletons have been taken at
100m on the edge of lowland forest at the Danum Valley Field Centre in Sabah
and at 1465m on Bukit Retak in Brunei.
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