|
Selepa
Moore
Type
species: celtis
Moore, Java, India.
This genus was associated with the Collomeninae by Mell (1943) in his Eligmini
(see discussion of
Eligma
Hübner) and indeed shares loss of the uncus with many of the Collomeninae;
however, in features of the male and female abdomen it is distinct. These groups
also share a beaded, stridulating pupa, but this is not unique to them. The
larva of Selepa is rather uniform in character through the genus as
described below. The genus shows the arctiid character of having the subventral
group of setae on the thorax bisetose;
Selepa
docilis
Butler (Indian Subregion, Arabia, Africa) is unusual in having a verruca at L1
on abdominal segments (Gardner, 1941).
The forewing has a small areole, such that R5 is stalked with (R3, R4), but
otherwise the venation is of the groundplan type. The facies is distinctive,
with the forewing postmedial strongly, if occasionally irregularly, looped, and
faintly double.
The male abdomen lacks tymbals but has prominent basal apodemes on the eighth
tergite and sternite. The genitalia are highly modified with loss of the uncus
and extension of the tegumen down each side to such an extent that the small
vinculum appears to flex back to the valve bases. There are scent pencils
associated with the ventral end of the tegumen on each side. The valves are
ovate, with a strong sacculus that bears a sickle-like process that appears to
be articulated with the sacculus at its base and can be as long as the valve
itself. The aedeagus is small, slender, slightly curved, but lacks cornuti.
The female genitalia have a short, sclerotised ductus that leads to the long,
narrow neck of the bursa. The corpus bursae is pyriform and can contain a
central scobinate signum or signa.
The genus is found throughout the Old World tropics, some of its species also
being widespread. The type species (see below) and the Indian Subregion
S. docilis are known as agricultural pests (Zhang, 1994).
<<Back
>>Forward <<Return
to Content Page
|
