Agrotera basinotata Hampson, 1891

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 : 131-132

Agrotera basinotata Hampson, 1891 ( Figs 2A, 4A, 5A)

Agrotera basinotata Hampson, 1891:137 . TL: India (Nilgiris).

Material examined. 1♂, INDIA, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Watch Tower , 08-XI-2018, coll. K.C. Gopi and Party (Reg. No. ZSI / ANRC /T-16621) ; 1♂, INDIA, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Steel Bridge , 22-XI-2018, coll. K.C. Gopi and Party (Reg. No. ZSI / ANRC /T-16622) ; 1♀, INDIA, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Watch Tower , 08-XI-2018, coll. K.C. Gopi and Party (Reg. No. ZSI / ANRC /T-16620) ; 1♂, INDIA, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Bird watching Point , Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve , 14-XI-2018, coll. K.C. Gopi and Party (Reg. No. ZSI / ANRC /T-16619) .

Diagnosis. Wingspan 10 mm in males. Agrotera basionata is closely similar to Agrotera nemoralis (Scopoli, 1763) in external appearance but can be separated in the male genitalia by the undivided valva, Vshaped saccus, triangularly pointed uncus and stout phallus narrowing distally, with broad apical region with numerous spines.

Distribution. Sri Lanka, India (Punjab, Assam, Meghalaya, Niligiri Hills, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Great Nicobar Island—Present Study), Burma, Thailand, Malaysia (West Malaysia, Sabah, Indonesia), Taiwan, China, Japan, Australia ( Chaovalit & Pinkaew, 2020; Reddy & Murthy, 2021; Shaffer et al., 1996; Whitaker et al., 2017).

Remarks. This is the first record of Agrotera basinotata from the Nicobar group of Islands, a significant range extension for this species within India. This finding underscores the need for continued biodiversity surveys in this understudied region. Representative individuals of this species were observed in traps placed in the primary forests of the Great Nicobar Islands.