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“Scaptesyle” aurigena Walker 
   
Tospitis aurigena Walker, 1863, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus., 28:428.
   
Pitane biplaga Felder, 1875, Reise öst. Fregatte Novara, 139: 5.


"Scaptesyle" aurigena
(x 1.73)


Diagnosis and taxonomic note.
This and the next species are related to each other but not true Scaptesyle as strictly defined above. The forewing facies is yellow, with apical and basal zones of black centred with dull red, but the hindwings are not yellow, and lack a black border, being pale bone-white, grading brownish towards the margin. The forewings are more rectangular in shape, and, unlike in the Scaptesyle generic quartet, the dark areas of the upperside are expressed much more weakly on the underside. The facies is similar to that of “Garudinia” successana Walker from Seram and the genus Parascaptia Bethune-Baker from New Guinea. The male genitalia have very elongate lobes to the tegumen. The saccular process is flexed and characterised by a group of setae just basal to the point of greatest flexure (distinctly articulated in Parascaptia). The inter-saccular setal plate is relatively small, the setae dense (broad, with coarse setae in Parascaptia). The apodemes on the eighth abdominal segment are well separated (basally fused in Parascaptia). The two species are distinguished in the diagnosis following.

Geographical range. Borneo.

Habitat preference. The species is rare, taken in lower montane forest during the Mulu survey (1000m on G. Mulu, 900m on G. Api), but also with singletons from 150m and 500m on the Mulu transect. Older material is from lowland Sarawak in the area of Kuching.

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