Psyra falcipennis Yazaki 1994
Creators: name: Liu, Zulian
name: Xue, Dayong
name: Wang, Wenkai
name: Han, Hongxiang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Psyra
Psyra falcipennis

description: Psyra falcipennis Yazaki, 1994
Figs 21–22, 37, 50, 63, 72
Psyra falcipennis Yazaki, 1994, in Haruta, Tinea, 14 (Suppl. 1): 32, pl. 71, figs 11, 14; text-figs 374, 380. Holotype 3, Nepal: Mt Phulchouki (NSMT).
Material examined. Shaanxi (IZCAS): 1Ƥ, Ningshan, Huoditang, 1580 m, 16.VIII.1988, coll. Yuan Decheng. Gansu (IZCAS): 232Ƥ, Wenxian, Shanwangmiao, 1500 m, 28.VII.1999, coll. Yao Jian (slide no. Geom-1986, 1998); 13, Kangxian, Qianghe Linchang, 1450–1650 m, 15.VII.1998, coll. Yao Jian. Zhejiang (IZCAS): 13, West Tianmu Shan, Qianmutian, 1330 m, 30.VII.2011, coll. Yan Keji; 13, Lin’an, West Tianmu Shan, 1500 m, 28– 29.VII.2003, coll. Han Hongxiang. Hubei (IZCAS): 23, Shennongjia, Dajiuhu, 1800 m, 5.VIII.1980, coll. Han Yinheng (slide no. Geom-2057); 131Ƥ, Shennongjia, Dajiuhu, 4.VIII.1981, coll. Han Yinheng; 1Ƥ, Hefeng, Fenshuiling, 1240 m, 29.VII.1989, coll. Li Wei. Hunan (IZCAS): 131Ƥ, Dayong, Zhushitou, 18.VIII.1988, coll. Chen Yixin; 231Ƥ, Sangzhi, Tianping Shan, 1300 m, 11.VIII.1981, coll. Chen Yixin & Li Wei; 332Ƥ, Tianping Shan, 30.VI., 7–26.VII., 21.VIII.1981. Fujian (IZCAS): 1Ƥ, Sangang, 29.VI.1982, coll. Jiang Fan; 13, Sangang, 17.IX.1981, coll. Huang Juchang; 234Ƥ, Wuyi Shan, 11–16.IX.1982, coll. Zhang Baolin (slide no. Geom-2058). Guangxi (IZCAS): 132Ƥ, Miaoer Shan, 1600 m, 15.VII.1995, coll. Fang Chenglai & Wang Ziqing. Sichuan (IZCAS): 33, Pingwu, Laohegou, 1630 m, 16.VIII.1999, coll. Zhou Xin; 1Ƥ, Emei Shan, Qingyinge, 800–1000 m, 19.IX.1957, coll. Zhu Fuxing; 13, Emei Shan, Jiulaodong, 1800–1900 m, 28.VII.1957, coll. Huang Keren; 13, Emei Shan, 15.VIII.1977. Yunnan (IZCAS): 2Ƥ, Tengchong, Heinitang, 1930 m, 28–30.V.1992, coll. Xue Dayong; 13, Tengchong, Dahaoping, 2020 m, 24–26.V.1992, coll. Xue Dayong (slide no. Geom-1992).
Diagnosis. On wing pattern, P. falcipennis is similar to P. spurcataria and P. crypta, but can be distinguished by the following features: the area between median and postmedial lines is narrower, and this area on both fore- and hindwings is paler than in those two species. The male genitalia are distinctive in having a truncate valva tip and a triangular process on the costa; the aedeagus is characterized by having a sclerotized band on the manica, which bears two triangular processes, and by lacking a spinose bundle on the vesica, as in P. breviprotrusa, P. bluethgeni and P. boarmiata. In the female genitalia, the coiled ductus bursae is very characteristic. The female cannot be distinguished externally from P. rufolinearia.
Distribution. China (Shaanxi, Gansu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan), Nepal.
Remarks. Yazaki (1994) described P. falcipennis from Nepal, illustrating the male and female genitalia. Examination of a long series of IZCAS specimens from Gansu, Hubei, Fujian and Yunnan provinces shows that they have same genitalia as P. falcipennis. The holotype of P. rufolinearia is a female from Moupin, Sichuan Province, which is not far from the localities mentioned above, and has same wing as the materials in IZCAS. It seems probable that P. falcipennis should be a junior synonym of P. rufolinearia, but this cannot be confirmed until the genitalia of the holotype of P. rufolinearia are available for examination.
description: Published as part of Liu, Zulian, Xue, Dayong, Wang, Wenkai & Han, Hongxiang, 2013, A review of Psyra Walker, 1860 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae) from China, with description of one new species, pp. 459-474 in Zootaxa 3682 (3) on pages 470-472, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3682.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/218673