SUBFAMILY HERMINIINAE
View Image Gallery of Subfamily Herminiinae

Catadoides Bethune-Baker

Type species: punctata Bethune-Baker, New Guinea, Seram.

Robinson (1975: 217-219) partially reviewed this genus when he described two more species from Fiji. Though the male genitalia of the various species are diverse in structure, and the most consistent feature of the facies is that the markings are dark brown on a much paler, fawn ground, the feature that unites all the species is the presence in the male of extensively elongated labial palps (held back over the thorax when at rest somewhat as in Mosopia Walker discussed on p. 57). This elongation involves all three segments, particularly the first, with the palps in total extending in some species to be as long as, or longer than, the body. The first labial palp segment is swollen and sinuous in the vertical plane over its basal part. Those of the female are of more typical size for the group, recurved. Both Bornean species have narrowly bipectinate male antennae and a facies reminiscent of some ennomine geometrids such as Alcis Curtis. The male foreleg lacks a sheath.

The male abdomen has the eighth segment unmodified except for well separated tergal apodemes. The genitalia have the valves variable in shape, though without processes. The saccus is tapering, often apically acute. The aedeagus vesica is usually very large.

Females are much rarer than males, but that of an undescribed species from the Solomon Is. (slide 19948; Fig 116) similar to the type species has the ductus bursae short and the corpus bursae large. The latter is asymmetrically ovate, generally scobinate, with a bulge on one side that is more coarsely scobinate, giving rise to a short appendix bursae that leads into the ductus seminalis.

The genus ranges from Sundaland east to Fiji but is not diverse. Its monophyly needs further investigation.

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