Moth Taxon Search
Teliphasa hamata
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SS: Teliphasa hamata Li, 2016, possibly. Difficult to separate from Teliphasa albifusa (Hampson, 1896). But the OD description matches perfectly. I wonder if head, thorax and abdominal markings are a key to separate this from albifusa.
Liu, L., Wang, Y. and Li, H., 2016. Taxonomic review of the genus Teliphasa Moore, 1888 from China, with descriptions of four new species (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Epipaschiinae). ZooKeys, (554), p.119-137. Fig. 8.
Ranjan, R., Singh, N. and Kirti, J.S., 2022. On the taxonomy of genus Teliphasa Moore, 1888 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Epipaschiinae) with the description of two new species and two new species records from India. Zootaxa, 5141(1), pp.60-70. Fig. 3 and 4.
GI: There are some differences in the markings on head, thorax and abdomen in the males, but what about the female?
There is a high chance that this is T hamata and not T albifusa but I would feel more comfortable to confirm this id if the genitalia description could be made available.
JD : Ranjan et al mention "As discussed in Teliphasa similalbifusa Li in Liu, Wang & Li, 2016. In T. hamata no sexual dimorphism is reported" , though I could not find this in the mentioned article. https://zenodo.org/records/6577660
The description of T. albifusa in the OD by Hampson mentions - "Head, thorax, and abdomen grey, suffused with olive and fuscous." there is no mention of the alternate dark & white segments seen here. The image on Bold Systems of albifusa has only the first segment blackish, - https://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=314077. The same can be seen in other papers such as Liu et al,
Based on the above points, this observation does not seem to be albifusa. But so would many of the observations on MOI identified as albifusa, including mine.
The description of hamata in Liu at al mentions - "Abdomen white mottled black scales except first segment black" which does not completely match this observation.
However, it can be seen that the hindwings in hamata (Liu et al) are yellowish (except for the dark marginal band), while that of albifusa are white. Hampson in the OD for albifusa states "Hind wing white, with broad marginal fuscous band becoming obsolescent towards anal angle", Liu et al in the OD for hamata mention - "Hindwing with basal 2/3 yellowish white, distal 1/3 grayish brown, becoming paler from costa to dorsum; discocellular spot pale grayish brown; cilia of fore- and hind-wings pale yellow, grayish brown to brownish yellow along extension of veins"
Hence another possible diagnosis could be based on HW - HW basally yellowish-white in hamata, white in albifusa. Both wings cilia chequered in hamata, only FW in albifusa.
I am uploading an observation that matches the above.
JR: I would suggest to keep it rather as Teliphasa sp. cf. hamata until its genitalia is analyzed.
Liu, L., Wang, Y. and Li, H., 2016. Taxonomic review of the genus Teliphasa Moore, 1888 from China, with descriptions of four new species (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Epipaschiinae). ZooKeys, (554), p.119-137. Fig. 8.
Ranjan, R., Singh, N. and Kirti, J.S., 2022. On the taxonomy of genus Teliphasa Moore, 1888 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Epipaschiinae) with the description of two new species and two new species records from India. Zootaxa, 5141(1), pp.60-70. Fig. 3 and 4.
GI: There are some differences in the markings on head, thorax and abdomen in the males, but what about the female?
There is a high chance that this is T hamata and not T albifusa but I would feel more comfortable to confirm this id if the genitalia description could be made available.
JD : Ranjan et al mention "As discussed in Teliphasa similalbifusa Li in Liu, Wang & Li, 2016. In T. hamata no sexual dimorphism is reported" , though I could not find this in the mentioned article. https://zenodo.org/records/6577660
The description of T. albifusa in the OD by Hampson mentions - "Head, thorax, and abdomen grey, suffused with olive and fuscous." there is no mention of the alternate dark & white segments seen here. The image on Bold Systems of albifusa has only the first segment blackish, - https://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=314077. The same can be seen in other papers such as Liu et al,
Based on the above points, this observation does not seem to be albifusa. But so would many of the observations on MOI identified as albifusa, including mine.
The description of hamata in Liu at al mentions - "Abdomen white mottled black scales except first segment black" which does not completely match this observation.
However, it can be seen that the hindwings in hamata (Liu et al) are yellowish (except for the dark marginal band), while that of albifusa are white. Hampson in the OD for albifusa states "Hind wing white, with broad marginal fuscous band becoming obsolescent towards anal angle", Liu et al in the OD for hamata mention - "Hindwing with basal 2/3 yellowish white, distal 1/3 grayish brown, becoming paler from costa to dorsum; discocellular spot pale grayish brown; cilia of fore- and hind-wings pale yellow, grayish brown to brownish yellow along extension of veins"
Hence another possible diagnosis could be based on HW - HW basally yellowish-white in hamata, white in albifusa. Both wings cilia chequered in hamata, only FW in albifusa.
I am uploading an observation that matches the above.
JR: I would suggest to keep it rather as Teliphasa sp. cf. hamata until its genitalia is analyzed.
Observation Reference