Anobinae

Joshi, Rahul, Zahiri, Reza, Banerjee, Diya & Singh, Navneet, 2025, A catalogue of the Erebidae of India (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea), Zootaxa 5635 (1), pp. 1-247 : 12

10. Anobinae

The family-group name Anobinae was originally published by Wiltshire (1990), but without any formal description; hence it was a nomen nudum (Kühne & Speidel 2004; Speidel & Naumann 2005). Tribe Anobini was formally proposed by Holloway (2005) and was raised to subfamily level with a complete revision of the subfamily ( Lafontaine & Schmidt 2010, Lafontaine & Walsh 2010). According to Lafontaine & Walsh (2010) all the Old World species need to be relegated to Old World genera. Holloway (2011) noted that the species described in Anoba must retain the provisional placement until Old World fauna is reviewed.

Adult characters. Adults of Anobinae are defined by male antennae usually biserrate or bipectinate. The forewings are triangular and wing fasciation is irregular but usually involves blocks of black along the costa and at the dorsum. The male genitalia exhibit a unique valval configuration, typically characterized by wide, thickened areas featuring extensions along both the costal and saccular edges. The uncus displays various modifications, which may include angling, expansion, or the presence of a dorsal peak. The juxta presents diverse formations, while the aedeagus vesica contains multiple diverticula that may possess one or more moderately sized cornuti. In the female genitalia, ductus bursae is well developed, sclerotized, and the corpus bursae bears extensive areas of spines ( Holloway 2005).

Larval characters. Larvae have lost the prolegs on A3 and have those on A4 reduced.

Diversity and distribution. Approximately 180 species across 10 genera are found in regions ranging from the Nearctic and Neotropical to the Afrotropical, Oriental, and Australian regions ( Holloway 2005; Lafontaine & Walsh 2010; Zahiri et al. 2012). In India , there are reports of 30 species belonging to seven genera.