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Rectipalpula Joannis
Gen. rev.
Type
species: billeti Joannis.
This monobasic genus is revived from synonymy with Oxyodes,
to which it is unrelated despite some very general similarities of build and
facies. The facies is nevertheless distinctive and striking, the forewing
purplish with rufous areas subapically on the costa and diffusely associated
with the antemedial which consists of a darker bar over the posterior half,
terminating anteriorly by ringing a white spot. There is a similar but larger
white spot at the apex of the cell, possibly the reniform; this is reduced to a
transverse line in females. The hindwings are dull dark brown with a central
pale yellow zone crossed by a sinuous dark fascia as illustrated. The underside
is more generally purplish mauve with pale orange to yellow undertones and white
highlights. The labial palps are slender, elongate, directed forwards, the
second and third segments of equal length but the latter narrower.
In the male, the antennae are finely ciliate, and the hind- and midlegs bear a
series of short crests of scales dorsally, also seen to some extent in females.
The male abdomen has the eighth segment unmodified. The genitalia show no
relationship with those of Oxyodes, the valves being small, triangular,
without processes or coremata. The uncus is moderate, with a short apical spine,
and is opposed by a scaphium. The juxta consists of an arch from the sacculi on
each side,
approximating to the inverted ‘V’ type. The aedeagus is slender, with a
simple, globular vesica.
The female genitalia also differ markedly from those of Oxyodes.
The seventh segment is more elongate, and narrowing, tapering and shortening of
the sternite is less extreme. The ostium is enclosed by the posterior corners of
the tergite and the apex of the sternite, but is not closely associated with the
latter. The ductus and bursa are small, resembling a balloon.
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