Plutodes Guenee 1858
Creators: name: Singh, Manpreet
name: Raha, Angshuman
name: Mallick, Kaushik
name: Kirti, Jagbir Singh
name: Singh, Navneet
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Plutodes

description: Identification key to the Indian species of Plutodes Guenée, 1858
1. Hindwing with rufous-brown patches almost covering the whole area, leaving just a small area of the yellow background at the apex................................................................................................ 2
- Hindwing with rufous-brown patches much reduced exposing larger area of the yellow background.................... 3
2. Underside of both wings with distinct submarginal black patches....................................... P. costatus
- Underside of both wings uniformly pale rufous-brown with faint submarginal black patch on forewing.......... P. warreni
3. Hindwing with the distal patch much reduced to a small diffused patch with two dark brown spots.............. P. lamisca
- Hindwing with well-developed distal patch................................................................. 4
4. Forewing with basal patch joined to the distal patch................................................. P. nilgirica
- Forewing with basal and distal patches separate............................................................. 5
5. Forewing distal patch extended below into a distinct narrow stalk to meet the inner margin................ P. subcaudata
- Forewing with distal patch not extended into a prominent stalk................................................. 6
6. Hindwing with distal patch elliptical or oval................................................................ 7
- Hindwing with distal patch more or less kidney- shaped...................................................... 12
7. Hindwing with a dark spot below the distal elliptical patch near the anal angle............................ P. exquisita
- Hindwing distal patch oval, without any dark spot........................................................... 8
8. Distal patches on both wings crossed by a distinct, highly dentate, rufous line with a hue of yellowish background.................................................................................................. P. flavescens
- Distal patches on both wings crossed by an irregular rufous line (less/ not dentate), without yellowish background........ 9
9. Forewing distal patch crossed by non-dentate, slightly curved rufous line, which is conspicuously angled outwardly at middle.......................................................................................... P. philornis
- Forewing distal patch crossed by an irregular rufous line without medial angle as in P. philornis ...................... 10
10. Hindwing basal patch with curved outer border................................................ P. pseudocyclaria
- Hindwing basal patch with straight outer border............................................................ 11
11. Distal patch on hindwing large and barely separate from basal patch..................................... P. cyclaria
- Distal patches on hindwing smaller and always separate.............................................. P. discigera
12. Forewing distal patch amoeboid and irregularly bordered on all sides, hindwing distal patch without any projection at anal angle.................................................................................... P. transmutata
- Forewing distal patch quadrate with straight border at the inner side, hindwing distal patch with an acute projection at anal angle............................................................................. P. quadratus sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Singh, Manpreet, Raha, Angshuman, Mallick, Kaushik, Kirti, Jagbir Singh & Singh, Navneet, 2023, A review of the genus Plutodes Guenée (Geometridae: Ennominae) from India with description of one new species, pp. 499-523 in Zootaxa 5323 (4) on pages 520-521, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5323.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/8212358