Epipristis minimaria (Guenée, [1858]) -

Taxonomic Information

Similiar species:

Epipristis Meyrick, 1888 species known from India. 

Epipristis nelearia (Guenée, [1858])
Epipristis minimaria (Guenée, [1858])
 

Key to species based on Hampson (1896); Han & Xue (2007); Han et al. (2009).

Epipristis nelearia: Wings grey-green; valva with central sclerotized area orange segment-like.
 Frenulum developed; underside of wings with distinct broad black terminal band. Forewing with antemedial line black, wavy at upper half and serrate at lower half; postmedial line black, serrate, curved, accompanied outside by reddish brown patches between veins M and under CuA1; submarginal line greyish white, wavy; terminal line appearing as a series of small triangular patches between veins; fringes greenish white. Hind wing with reddish brown patches between veins M and under CuA2, paler than that on forewing; submarginal, terminal lines and fringes same as those of forewing. 

 

Epipristis minimaria: Smaller than Epipristis nelearia. Frenulum developed; underside of wings with distinct broad black terminal band. 
Wings grey-white, almost without green; valva without structure as above. Submarginal line white, wavy; area between postmedial and submarginal lines diffused with reddish brown scales or patches, paler at middle. 

 

Without the underside, the other difference I can see between minimaria and nelearia are as under: 

E. minimaria has a more clearly marked pale, sinuous postmedial, with shades of red extending all the way to the costa. In nelearia, the red is restricted to patches between veins M and under CuA1. The other feature I noticed from Han et al 2009 is that the forewing medial band is wider in nelearia and consequently, the space between the antemedial band and postmedial band at the inner margin is greater for nelearia. FBI, Hampson, Vol. 3 tates that minimaria differs from nelearia is having brown tinge rather than green tinge. Forewing antemedial more regularly waved. Distribution includes Sri Lanka, so S. Indian species likely to be minimaria. Distribution of nelearia possibly restricted to the Himalayas, while minimaria possibly occurs both in NE Himalaya and S. India. 

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Daman & Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Paschimbanga
Pondicherry
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu1
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total1
  1. OD: Hypochroma minimaria Guenée, 1857. Hist. nat. Ins., Spec. gén. Lépid. 9: 279. Text at https://archive.org/details/histoirenaturell09bois/page/279/mode/1up?view=theater
  2. Hampson, G. F. 1895. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol.3. Taylor & Francis, London. Noctuidae (cont.) to Geometridae 546 p - 226 figs. pg. 479, # 4023. 
  3. Haruta, T. (Ed.). 1994. Moths of Nepal. Part 3. TINEA. Vol. 14 (Supplement 1). The Japan Heterocerists’ Society, Tokyo.Pl. 67/2. 
  4. Han, H. & Xue, D. 2011. Fauna Sinica (Insecta Vol. 54, Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae). Science Press, Beijing. 787 pp. Pl. 3/15-16 for minimaria.
  5. Han, H., Expósito H., A., & D. Xue. 2009. A taxonomic study of Epipristis Meyrick, 1888 from China, with descriptions of two new species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae). Zootaxa, 2263: 31-41.
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipristis_minimaria
  7. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/474708-Epipristis-minimaria
 

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Epipristis minimaria (Guenée, [1858]) – . In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.72. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.mothsofindia.org/epipristis-minimaria, accessed 2024/03/29.