Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 79. (Budapest 1987)

Ronkay, L.: Taxonomic and zoogeographical studies on the subfamily Plusiinae (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). The Palaeotropical, Oriental and Nearctic material of the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen

The species representing this new genus, due to an unfortunate misidentification, was placed previously into the genus Anadevidia KOSTROWICKI, 1961 as "pyropia BUTLER, 1879". Interestingly in the text part Kostrowicki noted the close relationship between the species identified by him as pyropia and the "Oriental species A. pannosa (WKR.)" and mentioned the "lack of cornuti" but on his drawing illustrated the male genitalia of "pyropia" there is a well-discernible, spine-like cornutus ! Unfortunately I have been unlucky to find this mysterious specimen, but as judged from the data published in this work it is very probable that he studied only specimens of pannosa. Comparing the characteristics of the two species of the genus Anadevidia (peponis (Fabricius, 1775) and hebetata (BUTLER, 1889)) with these of Anaplusia pannosa (MOORE, 1882) one can find — beside some real similarities such as the hairy valvae, the reduced harpe, the relatively short and strong uncus — a series of distinctive characters which justify the separation at a generic level. These features are as follows: the quite different wing pattern and shape of wings, the much more robust and shorter, nearly triangular valvae and the very characteristically different configuration of the vesica of these two genera — as the species of the genus Anadevidia have long, tubular vesica with only one lateral diverticulum but with a strong terminal cornutus (Figs 3, 4). The configuration of the female genitalia of these three species is very different, but in the case of pannosa the ductus bursae is strongly dilated proximally and connected to the globular and membranous apical part of bursa copulatrix. The species of the genus Anadevidia have narrow, tubular ductus bursae which is long and strong in the case of hebetata, much shorter and membranous in peponis, but in the latter the proximal part of the bursa copulatrix is constricted to a tube with a small diverticulum. To sum up, the new genus is related to Anadevidia KOSTROWICKI, but differs from it in external and genital characters and represents a monotypic genus with strongly restricted area in the Southern Himalaya. Extremoplusia gen. n. Type species: Plusia megaloba HAMPSON, 1912 Description : Head strong, frons slightly prominent, smooth, antennae ciliate. Palpi slender, upturned over vertex, second joint finely arcuate, third joint long, bar-shaped with pointed tip. Fore tibiae without claws, hind tibiae with asymmetric spurs. Thoracic crest and tufts large and wide, abdomen short and slender, dorsal crest consisting of four large tufts, lateral and caudal coremata reduced. Fore wing wide, high and short, triangular with pointed apex. Tornai lobe reduced to some long, hairy scales, hind wing rounded. Male genitalia (Figs 6-7) : uncus long and slender, pointed, tegumen wide and less high, vinculum long and narrow, saccus weekly sclerotized, terminally with two small lobes. Valvae rather short, distally strongly dilated, cucullus triangular and strongly pointed, corona absent. Sacculus narrow and less sclerotized, clavus thick, finger-like, harpe relatively long and finely arcuate, slightly dilated at apex, apex rounded. Aedoeagus very characteristic consisting of a large and globular proximal bulb and a short, cylindrical distal part, ostium ductus ejaculatorii situated at distal third of aedoeagus on dorsal surface. Vesica extremely long, tubular, finely granulöse, with a fine, spiniform and shgthly bulbed cornutus at medial third of vesica. Abdominal segments less sclerotized, last tergite flabelliform, last sternite U-shaped. The new genus is relatively far from all the related genera in its very special composition of the characteristics of the male genitalia — it was impossible to reconstruct the actual structure of the vesica because during in preparation it was fragmented (the drawing illustrates the aedoeagus of a Sumatran specimen which was fixed for a short time before — a similarly unsuccessful — evertation); the whole length of the vesica, instead of the ductus ejaculatorius, was 78 mm since the total length of abdomen is 11.5 mm. The species representing the new genus has the longest vesica which I have found in the subfamily Plusiinae,