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Melanographia Hampson
Type
species: flexilineata
Hampson, India
The male antennae are ciliated and the hindwing
venation quadrifine as in the previous two genera. The forewing venation is
reduced by one in the radial sector, with the distal bifurcation posterior. The
facies of the forewing has a similar variegated grey appearance but typically
with a more regularly curved fine black postmedial.
In the male abdomen apodemes are only
present on the eighth sternite, where they are short, rather rounded and close
together. The uncus is as in
Barasa,
and there are narrow, elongate, setose processes laterally on the anal tube. The
tegumen is unmodified. The valves are narrow, simple, with a slender but
moderately long central harpe. The aedeagus is short, the vesica without cornuti.
The female genitalia are similar to those of the previous two genera but with a
more spherical bulb to the corpus bursae which gives rise to a small appendix
bursae and has only one zone of scobinate corrugation.
In addition to the type
species, the genus currently includes the N.E. Himalayan M.
tympanistis
Hampson, but this placement is dubious as the facies is very different from that
of the type species. The male genitalia have the harpe more erect on the valve,
the costal apex of which is produced into a slender spine. The Budapest group
considers that tympanistis is not congeneric.
This only "congener" of the type
species was reared by Bell (MS) in India. It is typically noline, with tufts of
long hair on verrucae; prolegs are present on A3 but small. The body is greenish
white, with the dorsum of T1 velvety black, divided centrally by a thin white
line. T2 to A9 have dark brown spots dorsally that form a broken line, and there
are similar lateral rows. The hairs on the verrucae are 5mm long, mostly white,
occasionally black.
The larvae are gregarious,
found on the underside of young leaves of the host plant, Lagerstroemia (Lythraceae).
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