Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura 1970
Creators: name: Zhang, Dandan
name: Chen, Kai
name: Xiang, Lanbin
name: Kou, Zongqing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Crambidae
Nephelobotys

description: Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970
Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970.
Type species: Pionea nephelistalis Hampson, 1913, by original designation.
Diagnosis. Superficially, Nephelobotys evenoralis, N. habisalis, N. apiculata sp. nov. and N. denticulatus are similar to species of Torulisquama Zhang & Li, 2010 and Limbobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970 in sharing the yellow ground color with the brown subterminal band of wings. N. semicircularis sp. nov., N. brevis sp. nov. and N. flavicilialis are similar to species of Anamalaia Munroe & Mutuura, 1969 in the forewings nearly brown or yellowish brown. And almost all four genera have the small glandular fovea on the upper surface of the forewings and a scale-tuft on the under surface at the position of the fovea in male. But Nephelobotys can be distinguished from them by the columnshaped uncus dorsally clothed setae short, thick and terminally forked, folded sella composed of a membranous inside part and sclerotized outside part, inside sella dorsally bearing simple setae, outside sella usually with a dorsal process bearing dense spines and a ventral hook-shaped process; sacculus with an inflated distal protrusion; deciduous cornuti (if present) multi-furcated in male genitalia; a pair of plate-shaped lamellae postvaginales densely covered with minute spines, much shorter colliculum and lack of the second signum in female genitalia.
Description. Frons weakly rounded. Labial palpus porrect, exceeding head by about same length or 2/3 of latter. Maxillary palpus moderately prominent, with dilated distal scale-tuft. Antenna smoothly scaled dorsally. Hindleg with outer spurs very minute in male. Forewing narrowly triangular, some species with basal part of forewing bearing a small glandular fovea closely beyond the cell in male, beneath with a scale-tuft on the position of the fovea. Hindwing fan-shaped, apex, termen and tornus rounded.
Male genitalia. Uncus columnar, covered with setae laterally and dorsally, dorsal setae short, thick and terminally forked. Transtilla sparsely setose, with slender and long process extending to juxta. Valva elongated tongue-shaped; costa nearly straight to slightly concaved; ventral margin slightly convex, sometimes with basal half slightly sinuate; weakly tapering from base to more or less rounded apex; inner side of distal valva densely setose; sella folded, composed of a membranous inside sella and sclerotized outside sella, inside sella bearing thick and simple setae, outside sella bearing a hook-shaped process ventrally, and inner or distal margin of process dentate or bearing spines, outside sella usually bearing a process dorsally and extending inward, densely bearing spines; sacculus with a broadly distal protrusion. Juxta bifid, with elongate dorsal arms. Phallus cylindrical; vesica sometimes bearing a bundle of deciduous cornuti with anterior half muti-furcated.
Female genitalia. Ovipositor lobes densely covered with long setae. Posterior apophysis straight, anterior apophysis longer and usually curved medially. Lamella postvaginalis developed, composed of a pair of plate-shaped sclerites, surface densely covered with minute spines. Lamella antevaginalis sometimes developed, nearly bandshaped, closely surrounding the posteroventral margin of antrum. Sinus vaginalis membranous, sometimes partly sclerotized or developed. Ductus bursae distorted or looped, moderately wide, approximately 3–4 times length of corpus bursae; antrum shallowly funnel-shaped, membranous or sclerotized, with posteroventral margin sclerotized, more or less winkled; colliculum short, ductus seminalis originating from its anterior end. Corpus bursae globular or oval; signum rhomboidal, moderately large; appendix bursae arising from lateral side of corpus bursae.
Biology. Larvae of N. evenoralis were reported as damaging bamboo.
Distribution. Southern China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Russia (Sahalin).
Key to species of Nephelobotys
1 Ground color of forewing and hindwing yellow or pale yellow, with contrasting subterminal band brown or dark brown.... 2 Ground color of wings brown or ochreous yellow, subterminal band (if present) more or less darker than ground color and indistinct............................................................................................ 5
2 Wingspan 27.0–30.0 mm; inside sella folded (Fig. 14).............................................. N. evenoralis Wingspan less than 26.0 mm; inside sella not folded.......................................................... 3
3 Valva with a finger-shaped process on costa subapically; outside sella absent dorsal process; distal protrusion of sacculus with dorsal margin smoothed and with inner angle extending into a point process (Fig. 11)............... N. apiculata sp. nov. Valva without process on costa; outside sella possessing a dorsal process; distal protrusion of sacculus with dorsal margin serrated and without process on inner angle................................................................. 4
4 Postmedial line of forewing curved at M 1; inner margin of subterminal band of forewing undulating (Fig. 2); ventral process of outside sella rather wide; distal protrusion of sacculus nearly rectangular (Fig. 12).......................... N. habisalis Postmedial line of forewing with anterior half straight; inner margin of subterminal band of forewing relatively straight (Fig. 5); ventral process of outside sella slender; sacculus with distal protrusion asymmetrically semicircular (Fig. 15).................................................................................................. N. denticulatus
5 Body color yellow, chocolate brown forewing with the predominantly yellow base, costal and terminal bands; dark brown hindwing with yellow terminal band and pale yellow vannus (Fig. 3); outside sella with ventral process excurved (Fig. 13).......................................................................................... N. nephelistalis Body color and forewing ochreous yellow, brown or yellowish brown; outside sella with ventral process nearly straight or incurved............................................................................................ 6
6 Forewing ochreous yellow, termen without brown spots on veins end (Fig. 6); outside sella absence of dorsal process (Fig. 16).............................................................................. N. semicircularis sp. nov. Forewing brown or yellowish brown, termen yellow and with brown spots on veins end; outside sella possessing a dorsal process............................................................................................. 7
7 Outside sella with dorsal process shorter than half length of ventral process, and ventral process extending beyond ventral margin of inside sella (Fig. 17).............................................................. N. brevis sp. nov. Outside sella with dorsal process longer than half length of ventral process, and ventral process not extending beyond ventral margin of inside sella (Fig. 18)................................................................. N. flavicilialis
description: Published as part of Zhang, Dandan, Chen, Kai, Xiang, Lanbin & Kou, Zongqing, 2024, Revision of the genus Nephelobotys Munroe & Mutuura, 1970 (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Pyraustinae), pp. 301-319 in Zootaxa 5403 (3) on pages 302-303, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5403.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10550085