Identification key (external characters)
1 Fw upperside (apical region)
and body white, ivory- or cream-coloured 2
– Fw upperside (apical region) and body grey, ochre or brown, central area of fw
often in part or completely transparent 17
2 Abdomen dorsally
white, pinkish or red 3
– Abdomen dorsally ivory, yellow or brown 9
3 Fw upperside evenly
coloured (ivory or white) without any pattern or markings, except for dark veins or a
narrow streak along the discal vein 4
– Fw upperside mostly white, discal area with a broad transverse black band, and
black at the apex magnifica
4 Fw costal vein widened
as an areole from the base to about one third of the winglength, total length of fw
usually > 25 mm 5
– Fw costal vein not widened, without areole, total length of fw < 25 mm 8
5 Colour of upper wings
and body plain white 6
– Colour of upper wings and body creamy white to dark ivory 7
6 Length of fw 23-25 mm,
antennae black kiellandi
– Length of fw 26-29 mm, antennae brown niveivitrea
7 Colour of wings and
body ivory-brown, tegulae with a black spot basally and another one distally, outer sides
of femora and tibiae brownish fuscivena
– Colour of wings and body whitish cream-coloured, tegulae with a single black
spot basally, outer sides of femora and tibiae whitish nigrivenosa
8 Fw white with a shade of grey or
ivory, discal vein with a streak of dark scales, sometimes another faded line
postdiscally, length of fw 18-21 mm, abdomen dorsally bright red or pink lupia
– Fw plain white, discal vein not with a dark streak, length of fw 21-25 mm,
abdomen dorsally red suffused with white scales mulleri
9 Hw upperside, fw underside, and
abdomen dorsally dark fuscous brown androfusca
– Hw upperside white or ivory-coloured, abdomen dorsally whitish cream-coloured
or yellow 10
10 Fw costal vein widened to a
short or longer areole, from the wing base to one third of the winglength 11
– Fw costal vein not widened, without an areole 13
11 Hw enlarged towards the inner
margin, white on the anterior half but posteriorly cream-coloured, with long, wool-like
hairs towards the anal margin howardi
– Hw not enlarged towards the inner margin and without long hairs, generally
plain white 12
12 Fw costal vein with a short
areole at base, tegulae with a single spot basally bubo
– Fw costal vein with a long areole from base to one third of the winglength,
tegulae with two spots, one basally and another one distally catinca
13 Hw and fw distinctly different
in color, fw greyish white or cream-coloured, hw yellowish to pale brown 14
– Hw and fw not different in color, cream- to ivory coloured 16
14 Fw upperside cream- or ivory
coloured, postdiscally without transparent areas lineolata
– Fw upperside greyish white, postdiscally between radius and media fully or
partly transparent 15
15 Hw outer margin distinctly
concave towards the anal angle which forms a short projecting edge posteriorly, fw greyish
brown bipartita
– Hw outer margin not or only slightly concave, without the anal angle projecting
posteriorly, fw pale grey to greyish white brunnea ssp. bipartitoides
16 Length of fw 20-22 mm, tegulae
without any black spot rufifemur
female (male unknown)
– Length of fw 29-32 mm, tegulae with a single black spot basally shimbaensis
17 Length of fw 17-18 mm, fw apex
dark greyish brown, clearly differentiated in colour from the central and basal parts of
the fw aldabrensis
– Length of fw usually > 22 mm, fw apex generally not much darker than the
central or basal parts of the fw 18
18 Fw upperside dark brown,
postdiscally with a broad transverse white band, tegulae with a longitudinal black stripe syntomina
– Fw postdiscally without a transverse white band, tegulae with one or two black
spots 19
19 Abdomen dorsally yellow 20
– Abdomen dorsally red 21
20 Fw upperside and hw at apex and
along outer margin dark greyish brown brunnea
– Fw upperside and hw at apex and along outer margin not very dark, pale brown thermochroa
21 Fw upperside greyish white,
apical region dark grey or black nigroapicalis
– Fw upperside various shades of brown or ochre, often partly transparent, apical
region not black 22
22 Fw densely scaled without
larger transparent areas 23
– Fw centrally in part or fully transparent, sometimes suffused 24
23 Fw upperside pale to dark
brown, with the discal cell and post-discally the area between radius and vein m3
transparent, hw dark brown anteriorly and pale ochre posteriorly leucoptera
– Fw upperside pale brown without clearly transparent areas, hw uniformely
yellowish phaedra
24 Length of fw > 27 mm, often
30 mm or longer 25
– Length of fw generally < 26 mm 27
25 Fw reddish ochre, hw pinkish
red, costal margin of fw nearly straight madagascariensis
– Fw and hw pale ochre to brown, not pink or red, costal margin of fw clearly
curved 26
26 Fw pale ochre distally but
darker brown postdiscally, discal vein with a broad dark brown streak bauri
– Fw uniformly pale brown, not noticeably darker postdiscally, discal vein only
finely lined with brown scales femina
27 Fw with well defined, fully
transparent areas, particularly sharply delimited towards the apex 28
– Fw only with partly transparent areas, generally suffused and not clearly
defined, without a sharp border towards the apex 32
28 Fw distinctly pale greyish
ochre to dark greyish brown, hw usually not pinkish or red 29
– Fw pale ochre to reddish brown but not grey, hw generally pinkish or red 31
29 Fw pale greyish ochre,
underside of abdomen white or pale grey vitrea
– Fw greyish brown, underside of abdomen pale brown or pinkish ochre 30
30 Head and thorax dorsally pale
greyish brown, length of fw 21-24 mm affinis
– Head and thorax dorsally dark greyish brown, length of fw 19-21 mm luteibarba
31 Fw dark ochre, discal area
suffused with brown scales, hw distinctly pinkish or red fennia
– Fw pale ochre, discal area mostly transparent, hw only with a pinkish tint roseomarginata
32 Fw dark reddish brown, hw
distinctly pinkish red 33
– Fw pale ochre to pale brown, if hw pinkish then fw with an oblique dark
transverse discal band 34
33 Fw central transparent area
almost completely suffused, dark brown accra
– Fw central transparent area only partly suffused, reddish brown makadara
34 Fw comparatively narrow, costal
margin less curved towards the apex, often with a faint dark, transverse discal band puella
– Fw comparatively broad, costal margin more curved towards the apex, without any
dark, transverse discal band 35
35 Fw transparent area
comparatively more sharply delimited towards the apex, discal vein with a distinct brown
streak castanea
– Fw transparent area comparatively less sharply delimited towards the apex, more
suffused, discal vein only finely lined with brown scales vidua