Amerila catinca sp.n.
08 catinca m.JPG (7011 Byte) 33 catinca w.JPG (6173 Byte) catinca m 94-0030.JPG (5800 Byte) catinca f 94-0033.JPG (5183 Byte)
male female male female
Description
Male. Fw length 24-28 mm; wings, head, thorax, and base of abdomen white with a creamy tint; wings weakly scaled, partly transparent; fw veins dark, costa with a long areole extending from the base to about one third of the total winglength, broad at the base and gradually tapering distally; fw basally and hw along outer and inner margins ivory-coloured. Tegulae with a conspicuous black spot basally and another, sometimes faint spot distally; legs yellow, outer sides of fore and mid femora and tibiae dusted with greyish ivory. Abdomen dorsally yellow, ventrally white; medially at the anterior margins of sternites IV to VI each a pocket with an extrusible brush of hair-like scales.
Female. As male, except fw costa without areole, hw white, and no abdominal androconial organs.
Male genitalia
catinca a.gif (2601 Byte) catinca b.gif (6136 Byte) catinca c.gif (1833 Byte) catinca d.gif (6883 Byte)
view on leftside of vinculum and valva, lateral view inner side of right valva tegumen/uncus, dorsal view aedeagus with vesica everted
Uncus short, triangular and distally pointed. Valvae large, oval-shaped, and distally rounded, outer surface with long extrusible, hirsute, tube-like coremata. Inner sclerotized process large and smooth, slightly curved and apically pointed. Vesica distally with a single large, slender cornutus, strongly bent at its base, distally curved and apically pointed.
Distribution
East Africa; northeastern Kenya to northern Tanzania; only known from the coastal region.
Comments
Specimens of this species have been known for some time, but in collections they were mostly misplaced under A. bubo. The male specimen in BMNH from Amani, Tanzania, is a paratype of A. howardi, and the ¢ from Saadani, Tanzania, in MNHU is a paralectotype of A. phaedra (see below). From both A. bubo and A. shimbaensis, A. catinca is best told apart by the long areole in the male fw costa, and the presence of two conspicuous black spots on the tegulae.
Material
Holotype male: Kenya, Shimba Hills, 19.viii.1979, leg. Boppré / R.bubo Walker / Genital-Präparat Nr. 95-60, Chr.Häuser / Holotypus, Amerila catinca Häuser & Boppré [SMNS; abdomen dissected]. Type locality. KENYA: Kwale: Shimba Hills. Paratypes: 61 males, 27 female, same locality data, 8.-29.vi.1980, 3.vi.1983, ix.1983, 15.vii.-27.ix.1985, 10.-16.ix.1987, (MB, BMNH, MNHU, SMNS, ZSSM).
Additional material examined. TANZANIA: Tanga: E.Usambara, Amani, ii.1953 (1 male, BMNH), xi.1965 (3 males, NMKE), 30.i.1981 (1 male, BJ); Arusha: nr. Tarangira Nat.Park, Babati, 31.iii.1996 (1 male, MB); Coast: Pwani, Saadani, 1891, (1 male, MNHU), Bagamoyo, Kiono Forest, Saadani, 16.i.1986 (1 male, BJ).