TRIBE OPHIUSINI
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Rectipalpula Joannis Gen. rev.

Type species: billeti Joannis.

This monobasic genus is revived from synonymy with
Oxyodes, to which it is unrelated despite some very general similarities of build and facies. The facies is nevertheless distinctive and striking, the forewing purplish with rufous areas subapically on the costa and diffusely associated with the antemedial which consists of a darker bar over the posterior half, terminating anteriorly by ringing a white spot. There is a similar but larger white spot at the apex of the cell, possibly the reniform; this is reduced to a transverse line in females. The hindwings are dull dark brown with a central pale yellow zone crossed by a sinuous dark fascia as illustrated. The underside is more generally purplish mauve with pale orange to yellow undertones and white highlights. The labial palps are slender, elongate, directed forwards, the second and third segments of equal length but the latter narrower.

In the male, the antennae are finely ciliate, and the hind- and midlegs bear a series of short crests of scales dorsally, also seen to some extent in females.

The male abdomen has the eighth segment unmodified. The genitalia show no relationship with those of
Oxyodes, the valves being small, triangular, without processes or coremata. The uncus is moderate, with a short apical spine, and is opposed by a scaphium. The juxta consists of an arch from the sacculi on each side, approximating to the inverted ‘V’ type. The aedeagus is slender, with a simple, globular vesica.

The female genitalia also differ markedly from those of
Oxyodes. The seventh segment is more elongate, and narrowing, tapering and shortening of the sternite is less extreme. The ostium is enclosed by the posterior corners of the tergite and the apex of the sternite, but is not closely associated with the latter. The ductus and bursa are small, resembling a balloon.

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