Achaea mercatoria

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MOI-pqk967
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dattaprasad.101@gmail.com
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SS: Achaea mercatoria (Fabricius, 1775).
Jahir;s comments on MOI WhatsApp group. He agrees with ID as Achaea mercatoria (Fabricius, 1775).
''Achaea serva'' needs to be revisited carefully for separating from other closely allied species. Achaea serva is a complex group with almost four species: A. serva, A. argilla, A. mercatoria & A. eusciasta respectively.
All of these species have very similar wing pattern and very tough to separate. A. mercatoria can be separated from A. serva based on the falcate apex in mercatoria. After going through most observations of this group, I think that-
The following observations are mercatoria:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/3751106161591474/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/3074194492615981/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/3074178899284207/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/1138014156234034/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/726323867403067/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/895036223865163/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/1122407717794678/

And the following observations are serva:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/3234850809883681/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/IndianMoths/permalink/2016518818383559/

All of the four species mentioned above occurs in India. So, we need to be careful with Achaea serva.
Taxonomy is really interesting!

For interested persons I am sharing some literature :

1. Edwards,E.D. 1978. A Review of the Genus ACHAEA Hübner in Australia . Australian Journal of Entomology 17(4): 329–340.
https://www.mothsofborneo.com/.../ophiu.../ophiusini_5_1.php

Additional references.
Achaea mercatoria (Fabricius, 1775)
Noctua mercatoria Fabricius, 1775; Syst. Ent.: 604; TL: India orientali. Text at https://archive.org/details/systemaentomolog00fabr/page/604/mode/1up?view=theater
Noctua vulpina Fabricius, 1775; Syst. Ent.: 598; TL: India orientali. Text at https://archive.org/details/systemaentomolog00fabr/page/598/mode/1up?view=theater
Achaea accelerans Walker, 1858; List Spec. Lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus. 14: 1401. Text at https://archive.org/details/listofspecimenso1315brit/page/1401/mode/1up?view=theater
Edwards, E. D. 1978. A Review of the Genus Achaea Hübner in Australia . Australian Journal of Entomology 17(4): 329–340. Pg. 330, 338, Fig. 7,8.
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/ereb/mercatoria.html
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/541408-Achaea-mercatoria


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Dattaprasad Sawant
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MOI-pqk967
Organism
Butterfly
Moth Taxon search:
Month
September
Year
2016
Day
19