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SUBFAMILY
PANTHEINAE |
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Ortopla nulliusinverba sp. n. (Plate 1, Fig 10) GG, EE 20-23mm. This is a smaller species than iarbasalis and has modifications of the male that are unique within the genus. The forewings are deepened through expansion of the dorsal part with arching of the anterior cubital and anal veins; centrally on the underside there is an irregular blackish zone. The hindwings are also deeper through increase of the curvature of the costal margin. On the upperside there is a conspicuous, oval to reniform, rusty patch over the centre of the anterior half of the wing, obscuring the boundary between the basal yellowish zone and the dark border. The interior margin of this border is more strongly sinuous than in iarbasalis, with the postmedial closer to it, fainter and finer. The male genitalia have the uncus and scaphium longer than in iarbasalis, and the valves are broader and more upcurved. The aedeagus vesica has a scobinate area basally and a finely spined lobe centrally. In these genitalia features, the species is closer to relinquenda Walker. Holotype G. BORNEO: Sabah, Danum Valley F.C., N 04° 57', E 117° 45' (T. Whitaker), Old Campsite, 11.12.07, BMNH(E) 2008-95. Paratypes: 1G, 1E Ulu Temburong Expedition 1978, BRUNEI, Base Camp, 300m, m.v.light, 3&7.x.1978 (T.W. Harman); 1G (slide 17982) BRUNEI: 300m, Ulu Temburong, 19.10.78 (Lt. Col. M.G. Allen); 1E BRUNEI: 30‑60m, Labi, lowland forest and secondary veg., 11.9.1979 (Lt. Col. M.G. Allen); 1E BRUNEI: 180m, Labi, primary forest and secondary veg., 12.1.1980 (R. Fairclough); 1G BRUNEI: 60m, Ulu Belait, lowland forest, 21.2.80 (Lt. Col. M.G. Allen); 1E SABAH: Telupid, Ulu Sungai Payau, [100m], 24.iv.2002, butterfly baited trap (Nazir & Suzan) (in FRC, Sepilok). Etymology. The specific epithet is based on the motto, nullius in verba (take nobody’s word for it), of the Royal Society of London to commemorate the 350th anniversary of its foundation in 1660. This also reflects the involvement of the Society through its South East Asia Rain Forest Research Committee in collaborative research with Malaysian institutions at the Danum Valley Research Centre in Sabah initiated in 1985. The tradition of research in forestry goes back to the earliest years of the Royal Society through one of its Original Fellows, the diarist John Evelyn, who was the first to give the Society its present name and who published his treatise on forestry, Sylva, in 1664. Geographical range. Borneo. Habitat preference. All specimens are from lowland dipterocarp forest, with disturbance in some localities. |
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