Miltochrista dharma
Creators: name: Volynkin, Anton V.
name: Singh, Santosh
name: Černý, Karel
name: Kirti, Jagbir Singh
name: Datta, Harvinder Singh
name: Singh, Navneet
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Erebidae
Miltochrista
Miltochrista dharma

description: Miltochrista dharma (Moore, 1879)
(Figs 13–21, 103, 104, 137)
Setina dharma Moore, 1879, Proceedings of the general meetings for scientific business of the Zoological Society of London, 1879: 394 (Type locality: [N India, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra Valley, Dharamshala] “ Dharmsala, N.W. Himalaya”).
= Asura lacteoflava lacteoflava Rothschild, 1913, Novitates Zoologicae, 20 (1): 208 (Type locality: [N India, Himachal Pradesh, Chamba District] “ Dalhousie, N.W. India ”).
Type material examined. Lectotype of Setina dharma (designated herein) (Fig. 13): ♂, “ Kangra | Hocking | 83–26.” / “ Setina | Dharma, M[oore] | (type)” / red ring “Type” label / QR-code label with unique ID “ NHMUK010598179 ” (NHMUK). Lectotype of Asura lacteoflava lacteoflava (designated herein) (Fig. 14): ♂, “ Dalhousie | June, 1891” / “Rothschild | Bequest | B.M.1939-1.” / red label “ Asura | lacteoflava | Type Rothsch.” / QR-code label with unique ID “ NHMUK010598181 ” (NHMUK).
Additional material examined: series of both sexes from northeastern Pakistan, Nepal and India (Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram) (MWM / ZSM, NZCZSI, NHMUK, ZFMK).
Notes. (1) Moore (1879) described Setina dharma without the number and sex of specimens being specified. In order to stabilise the nomenclature, the male syntype labelled as “Type” and preserved in NHMUK is hereby designated as the lectotype. (2) Rothschild (1913) described Asura lacteoflava lacteoflava from the unspecified number of specimens of both sexes. In order to stabilise the nomenclature, the male syntype labelled as “Type” and preserved in NHMUK is hereby designated as the lectotype. (3) The species has two forms: with and without a medial transverse line. The latter one is more common in the western part of its range while the proportion of specimens with a medial line is higher in the east. These forms display no differences in their genitalia structures, and as they do not belong to separated populations the presence or absence of a medial line has no taxonomic importance in M. dharma.
Diagnosis. The forewing length is 10.0–12.0 mm in males and 11.0– 12.5 mm in females. The species is reminiscent of M. butleri Leech, [1889], stat. rev. and the detailed comparison is provided below in the diagnosis of the latter species.
Distribution. Northeastern Pakistan, Nepal (new records), North and Northeast India (Moore 1879; Hampson 1900; Rothschild 1913; Kirti & Singh 2015).
description: Published as part of Volynkin, Anton V., Singh, Santosh, Černý, Karel, Kirti, Jagbir Singh, Datta, Harvinder Singh & Singh, Navneet, 2025, On the taxonomy of the genus Miltochrista Hübner with descriptions of six new species from the Oriental Realm (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), pp. 401-445 in Zootaxa 5566 (3) on pages 408-410, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5566.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14703099