Didigua effusa Swinhoe

Blenina effusa Swinhoe, 1901, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (7), 7: 490.

Lasionotella exesa Warren, 1916, Novit. zool., 23: 219, syn. n.

Lasionotella exesa Warren; Kobes, 1997: 159.

Diagnosis

The male has a dull, pale reddish hindwing that is diagnostically excavated broadly over the centre of the margin.

There is a slight excavation also at the dorsum where there is a slight, pale hair tuft, and also a patch of beige scales on the underside submarginally on the tongue between the two excavations.

The forewing facies resembles that of the next two species, with a fine, oblique line running from one-third on the costa to the tornus in most specimens.

Taxonomic Notes

The forewing facies of the female type material of effusa and also the genitalia indicates that it is referable to exesa, martini or a new species which can only be distinguished reliably on male hindwing secondary sexual characters, and also on male genitalia.

The forewing is relatively lightly marked and hence is more likely to be conspecific with exesa (also commoner with regard to its males) than with one of the others.

Hence the synonymy above is somewhat tentative.

All these species have pouches with hair scales on tergites 5-7. The males attributed to effusa by Kobes (1997: 149) probably represent another species, though the female he illustrated (Plate VIII: 298) appears to be that of a member of this trio.

Geographical range

Borneo, Sumatra.

Habitat preference

All material taken in recent surveys is from below 200m, half from coastal habitats in Brunei and half from dipterocarp forest.

Chey (1994) recorded several specimens from secondary forest and a Eucalyptus deglupta plantation with secondary understorey in the lowlands of Sabah.

Genitalia: