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Scopula
pulchellata Fabricius
Phalaena pulchellata Fabricius,
1794, Ent. Syst., 3(2): 171.
Acidalia nictata Guenée, 1857, Hist. nat. Insectes, Spec.
Gen. Lep., 9: 506.
Acidalia ligataria Walker,
1861, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 22: 748.
Acidalia perlineata Walker,
1861, Ibid., 23: 775, syn. n.
Acidalia metaspilaria Walker,
1861, Ibid., 23: 793.
Acidalia spatiosaria Walker,
1866, Ibid., 35: 1631, syn. n.
Idaea grandicularia Swinhoe,
1886, Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond., 1885: 858.
Craspedia spilodorsata Warren,
1895 Novit. zool., 2: 93, syn. n.
Craspedia discata Warren, 1897, Ibid., 4: 218, syn. n.
Scopula spilodorsata cosmeta Prout,
1938, Gross-Schmett. Erde, 12: 200, syn. n.
Scopula perlineata obdiscata Prout,
1938, S. p. spilotis Prout, 1938, Ibid., 12: 201 syns. n.
Scopula nictata semperi Prout,
1938, S. n. takowensis Prout, 1938, Ibid., 12: 201.
Scopula
pulchellata 
(x 1.16) |
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Diagnosis. The species resembles a small version of S. voluptaria Prout,
with the forewing postmedial complex of fasciae picked out darker at the dorsum
and beyond the discal spot. The other fasciae are more regular, less crenulate
and the marginal black marks are linear rather than punctate.
Taxonomic notes. Features of the male genital capsule are constant across the range of
the synonymy presented above, though there is some variation in the lengths of
the cerata, with the right one always shorter than that on the left. Further
work is needed to establish the validity of the various subspecific categories.
There are Oriental species with similar facies, e.g. S. addictaria Walker
(Sri Lanka), S. bispurcata Warren (N.E. Himalaya) and S. malayana Bänziger
& Fletcher (Peninsular Malaysia) with valve processes more bilaterally
symmetrical, lacking the curvature of those of pulchellata.
Geographical range. Indo-Australian tropics from India to Taiwan and
Solomons, but apparently does not occur in Australia.
Habitat preference. The species is rare, known from Pulo Laut in the
south and from a Pinus caribaea plantation at Brumas in the lowlands of
Sabah.
Biology. A member of this facies group was reared from Nephelium (Sapindaceae)
in Peninsular Malaysia (unpublished IIE records), and S. malayana has
been recorded at mammalian lachrymal secretions by Bänziger & Fletcher
(1985).
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