Gangarides splendidus Schintlmeister

Taxonomic Note

A trio of closely related species of Gangarides, rosea Walker, brunneus Schintlmeister and splendidus Schintlmeister, occurs in southeast Asia, particularly Sundaland, differing in subtle features of facies and male genitalia as illustrated by Schintlmeister (1994b) and S & P. There is also a fourth species, vittipalpis Walker (= irregularis Schintlmeister), externally similar, but with greater differences in the male genitalia, also occurring in Sumatra (Schintlmeister, 1994b), extending down from the Himalaya and Indochina. S & P list all four as occurring in Sundaland but do not specify which occurs in Borneo, though restricted brunneus to Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and S. Thailand. On the other hand, splendidus ranges from S. Thailand to Sundaland, the Lesser Sundas, Sulawesi and the Moluccas, and is the species illustrated in Part 4. The clearest feature distinguishing the three that can probably be assessed without dissection is the shape of the distal margin of the male eighth sternite: squared in splendidus; bidentate in rosea; shallowly convex in brunneus. Kobayashi & Kishida (2008b) provided a checklist for the genus and described a new species, wallacei, from Sulawesi and Seram.

Geographical range

Himalaya to Sundaland, Sulawesi and Buru.

Habitat preference

The species has been recorded infrequently from a wide range of lowland forest types.