Tatobotys varanesalis ( Walker, 1859 )

Rao, B. Sumit Kumar & Sivaperuman, Chandrakasan, 2025, Contribution to the knowledge of Pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera, Pyraloidea) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 11 (1), pp. 129-149 : 139

Tatobotys varanesalis ( Walker, 1859) ( Figs 3A, 6G)

Botys varanesalis Walker, 1859:719 . TL: Malaysia, Borneo, Sarawak.

Material examined. 1♀, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Swarajdeep, Radha Nagar , 13-XI-2019, coll. B. Sumit Kumar Rao (Reg. No. ZSI / ANRC / T/17718 ) .

Diagnosis. Wingspan 29 mm. Foreground light orange, forewing with black coastal margin, basal and sub-basal area with straight black band, orbicular and reniform spot bordered with black, post medial band black, terminal band wide and black. Hindwing with the same maculation without spots. Abdomen with each segment marked with blackish triangular patch with silver scales. In female genitalia, papillae anales broad and elliptical, anterior apophysis longer than the posterior ones, antrum sclerotized, ductus bursae very short, corpus bursae elongated and without signum.

Distribution. Borneo, Darjeeling, Calcutta ( Singh et al., 2022b, Walker, 1859).

Remarks. Tatobotys varanesalis is now recorded for the first time in the Andaman Islands. While previously documented in the Indian state of West Bengal (specifically, Darjeeling and Calcutta), this is the third known location for the species, expanding its documented range to the Andaman Islands. Representative individual of this species was observed in traps placed in mangrove forest margin adjacent to Agricultural field.