Miltochrista floccosa (Walker, [1865])

Volynkin, Anton V., Singh, Santosh, Černý, Karel, Kirti, Jagbir Singh, Datta, Harvinder Singh & Singh, Navneet, 2025, On the taxonomy of the genus Miltochrista Hübner with descriptions of six new species from the Oriental Realm (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Zootaxa 5566 (3), pp. 401-445 : 418-420

Miltochrista floccosa (Walker, [1865])

( Figs 54–61 , 120, 121 , 145 )

Nudaria? floccosa Walker, [1865] , List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum, 31: 274 (Type locality: [ India, Coimbatore ] “ South Hindostan ”).

= Nudaria subcervina Walker, [1865] , List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum, 31: 274 (Type locality (determined by the neotype designation): [East India, Odisha] Ganjam ), syn. rev.

= Asura violacea Reich, 1936 , Entomologische Rundschau, 53: 419 (Type locality: [N India, Himachal Pradesh] “ Patria: Berg [ Mount ] Kufri , Simla Punjab , Himalaya ”), syn. nov.

Type material examined. Holotype (by monotypy) of Nudaria floccosa ( Fig. 54 ): ♀, “ India | Coimbatore | C.I. Walhouse | 61-20.” / “ Nudaria? floccosa .” / green ring “Type” label / QR-code label with unique ID: “ NHMUK010598413 ” ( NHMUK). Neotype of Nudaria subcervina (designated herein; Fig. 55 ): ♂, [E India, Odisha] “Ganjam.” / “Collectio | H. J. Elwes ” / “ Miltochrista | subcervina Wlk. ” / “Rothschild | Bequest | B.M.1939.- 1.” / “Agreed with | N. subcervina Wk. | [written illegibly]? “meuli alk” / “ Nudaria | floccosa Wk | fide Swinhoe” / QR-code label with unique ID: “ NHMUK010292535 ”, gen. prep. No.: NHMUK014331266 (prepared by Volynkin) ( NHMUK) .

Additional material examined. PAKISTAN: 2 ♂, 1 ♀, Islamabad , 1 km S Hotel Adventure Inn, 500m, 27.IV.1998, Gy.M. László G. Ronkay leg. ( MWM / ZSM); NEPAL: 5 ♂, 2 ♀, Tanahoun Distr., Bimalnager village , 530m, 11–12.IV.1995, Gy.M. László & G. Ronkay leg., gen. prep. Nos.: ZSM Arct. 301/2017 ♀, ZSM Arct. 2019- 1073 ♂ (prepared by Volynkin ) ( MWM / ZSM); 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Dhumre, Bimal Nager , 26–28.III.1995, 27°55’N 84°26’E, M. Hreblay & L. Nemeth leg. ( MWM / ZSM); INDIA: Himachal Pradesh: 1 ♂, Kangra Valley , 4500 ft., IX.1899, Dudgeon [leg.], unique ID: NHMUK010604554 , gen. prep. No. : NHMUK010313255 (prepared by Volynkin) ( NHMUK); 1 ♀, Kangra ( Hocking) 86-69, unique ID: NHMUK010604555 , gen. prep. No. : NHMUK010313256 (prepared by Volynkin) ( NHMUK); Bihar: 1 ♂, Valmiki Nagar , 23.vi.2011, N. Singh leg. ( NZCZSI, 12629/ H 10), 1 ♂, Valmiki Nagar , 24.vi.2011, N. Singh leg. ( NZCZSI, 12630/ H 10); SRI LANKA: 1 ♂, Ceylon , Outtalam I., unique ID: NHMUK010292536 , gen. prep. No. : NHMUK0014331267 (prepared by Volynkin) ( NHMUK); 1 ♂, Matale, Novr , Mackwood Coll., B.M. 1927-341, unique ID: NHMUK010292537 , gen. prep. No. : NHMUK0014331280 (prepared by Volynkin) ( NHMUK).

Notes. (1) Walker ([1865]) described Nudaria floccosa from a single specimen (lettered as ‘a’), which is a holotype by monotypy. Walker ([1865]) identified the sex of the holotype as male but the specimen is in fact a female ( Fig. 54 ). (2) Walker ([1865]) described Nudaria subcervina based on the unspecified number of males from Atkinson collection from “Hindostan”. This taxon was subsequently synonymised with M. floccosa without explanation by Hampson (1900). Not a single syntype specimen was found either in the NHMUK, OUMNH or MfN collections, where Walker’s types and specimens from Atkinson collection are housed, therefore it is possible to conclude that the type material is lost. Fortunately, in the unpresorted accessions in the NHMUK collection, a male specimen identified as “ Miltochrista subcervina ”, originating from eastern India and matching the original Walker’s description was found. In order to stabilise the nomenclature, this specimen is hereby designated as the neotype, and, according to the ICZN (1999) Article 76.3, the type locality is hereby determined by the neotype designation. Despite the external differences, the male genitalia of the neotype of M. subcervina display no distinctive characters from the polymorphic M. floccosa proving the conspecificity of these two taxa. Thus, the synonymy of subcervina with floccosa originally introduced by Hampson (1900) is herein confirmed: M. floccosa = Nudaria subcervina , syn. rev. (3) Unfortunately, we had no chance to examine the holotype (by monotypy) of Asura violacea , which should be in Paul Reich collection currently preserved in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv, Israel. However, the detailed description of the taxon provided by Reich (1936) fully corresponds to M. floccosa widely distributed from the western Himalayas to Sri Lanka and therefore Asura violacea is herein synonymised with it.

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 8.0–10.0 mm in males and 10.0 mm in females. The species varies in its size and the shape of the postmedial fascia but the genitalia structures display only limited variability in the uncus width and the shape of the valva apex. Miltochrista floccosa is superficially most reminiscent of M. ochracea ( Figs 62, 63 ) endemic to South India but can be easily distinguished by its considerably smaller size, bipectinate male antenna (it is ciliate in M. ochracea ), and the more diffuse forewing markings. The male genital capsule of M. floccosa differs from M. ochracea ( Fig. 122 ) in the considerably shorter uncus, the shorter tegumen with broader arms, the less elongate valva lacking the distal costal process (it is well-developed, triangular and directed ventrally in the congener), and the markedly longer distal saccular process. The phallus of M. floccosa is proximally broader than in M. ochracea and has a more distally prominent carinal crest. Compared to M. ochracea , the vesica of M. floccosa is significantly broader (in proportion to the phallus size), having a subbasal dorsal diverticulum, and bearing a robust cornutus whereas M. ochracea has two considerably shorter and narrower cornuti. In the female genitalia, M. floccosa is distinguished from M. ochracea ( Fig. 146 ) in the more caliciform ventral margin of the antrum, the markedly broader postero-lateral sclerotised plate of the corpus bursae edged with considerably shorter and thinner spines, the shorter and narrower anterior section of the corpus bursae, the presence of the short conical lateral protrusion of the corpus bursae, and the sack-like appendix bursae whereas it is conical in the congener.

Distribution. North-eastern Pakistan, Nepal (new records), India (Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Odisha, Tamil Nadu), and Sri Lanka ( Walker [1865] 1864; Hampson 1900; Reich 1936).

Figures

FIGURES 48–61. Adults of Miltochrista spp. Depositories of the specimens: 48–50, 52 and 53 in CAV; 54–56 and 60 in NHMUK; 57–59 and 61 in MWM/ZSM.

FIGURES 119–122. Male genitalia of Miltochrista spp. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 119 in SZMN; 120 in NHMUK; 121 and 122 in MWM/ZSM.

FIGURES 143–146. Female genitalia of Miltochrista spp. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 143 in CKC; 144 in CAV; 145 in MWM/ZSM; 146 in NHMUK.

FIGURES 62–74. Adults of Miltochrista spp. Depositories of the specimens: 62, 65–71 and 74 in MWM/ZSM; 63 and 64 in NHMUK; 72 in CKC; 73 in SNM (after Bucsek 2020).