Simplicia mistacalis ( Guenée, 1854 )

Raha, Angshuman, Sanyal, Abesh Kumar & Singh, Navneet, 2025, On the taxonomy of genus Simplicia Guenée, with a new species from India (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Herminiinae), Zootaxa 5631 (3), pp. 451-474 : 463-465

Simplicia mistacalis ( Guenée, 1854)

( Figs. 16–17, 45)

Herminia mistacalis Guenée, 1854 , Hist. nat. Ins., Spec. gén. Lépid., 8: 60. (TL: Central India)

= Bocana marginata Moore, 1882 , Descr. Indian lep. Atkinson, (2): 195. (TL: Darjiling [Darjeeling], West Bengal, India)

= Simplicia subterminalis Draeseke, 1928 , Dt. ent. Z. Iris, 42: 317. (TL: Tatsienlu [Tachienlo]; Kwanshien (SW China))

Material examined: India, Uttarakhand, Pithoragarh Dist., Askot WLS: 1 ♀, Baram Pool (29.87140ºN, 80.37358ºE, Alt. 1222 m), 08.vi.2018, A.K. Sanyal & G.N. Das leg.

Diagnosis: Forewing length: ♀ 14 mm. This is one of the smallest species of Simplicia with the characteristic curved sub-marginal line on forewing which has a slight subapical sinuosity ( Holloway 2008). Both the wings have dark brown shading immediately basal to the pale sub-marginals and faint irregular fasciations ( Moore 1882: 195, pl. 6, f. 19; Kononenko & Pinratana 2005: 14, pl. 1, f. 34; Holloway 2008: 121, pl. 6, f. 282). Undersides of both the wings have dark discal spots and hindwing has typical broken, lunular dark brown shading just basal to the pale sub-marginal line. Female genitalia have robust anterior apophysis longer than the posterior one, elongated and sclerotized ductus bursae, and spinuous basal region of ovoid corpus bursae ( Fig. 45).

Distribution: India: Central India, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal ( Guenée 1854; Moore 1882; Hampson 1895, present study). Global: China (South-west), Indonesia (Java, Sumatra), Japan, Malaysia (Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia), Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam ( Kononenko & Pinratana 2005; Holloway 2008).

Remark: The species is recorded from the Himalayan Chir Pine forest habitat at an altitude of 1222 m.