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Lophoptera
punctapex Holloway comb. & stat. n.
Stictoptera ekeikei punctapex Holloway,
1976: 19.
Diagnosis. The narrow forewings are a dark, slightly brownish indigo; there is a
subapical yellow spot associated with the weak, whitish, broken submarginal. The
second form illustrated, with a sinuous grey basal cloud that extends to include
the reniform, is less common than the immaculate form, comprising perhaps 20% of
specimens taken on the Mulu survey.
Taxonomic notes. The species has typical Lophoptera characters and is therefore
transferred to that genus from Stictoptera It shares with the next two
species the narrow, Gyrtona-like forewings and characters of the male
genitalia described in the generic introduction.
The species is here treated as distinct from L. ekeikei Bethune-Baker
comb. n. (New Guinea), a larger species without a grey-clouded form or a yellow
subapical spot, and a broader, dorsally obtusely angled costal process to the
valve and a shorter, broader uncus in the male genitalia. The next species is
obviously more closely related to punctapex than is ekeikei, though
the latter falls within the same species group of the genus.
Geographical range. Borneo, Sumatra.
Habitat preference. The holotype was taken at 1200m on G. Kinabalu in the
same locality as L. olivascens. During the Mulu survey the species was
encountered frequently in the lower and upper montane forest of G. Mulu, the
lowland and lower montane samples on G. Api, and singly in the kerangas sample.
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