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Spiralisigna Gen.
n.
Type species: minutissima Swinhoe.
This genus embraces a few very small brown species with a strongly
angled forewing postmedial fascia: a single angle rather than double as in Gymnoscelis
Mabille. It is defined on characters of the male and female abdomen,
particularly the latter.
In the male, octavals are absent. The uncus is short, not significantly
overlapped by the tegumen. The vinculum is produced ventrally on each side to
support scent pencils, but lacks the longitudinal bar of Gymnoscelis. The
valves are simple. The aedeagus is large, the vesica with a row of about a dozen
large cornuti.
The bursa in the female has a spined sclerotised plate that is strongly
spiralled, a feature not seen elsewhere in the Chloroclystis/Gymnoscelis complex.
As well as the type species, the genus includes S. acidna Turner
comb. n. (Australia and S.W. Pacific) and S. pseudofluctuosa Holloway
comb. n. (New Caledonia). These species are discussed in more detail by Holloway
(1977, 1979). In acidna the spiralling of the plate in the bursa is
rudimentary only.
In Fiji (Robinson, 1975) the larvae of S. acidna are flower
feeders, recorded from Myrtus (Myrtaceae) and Acacia (Leguminosae).
The type species has been recorded from Flacourtia (Flacourtiaceae).
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