Manoba major Hampson comb. n.

Nola major Hampson, 1891, Illust. typical Specimens lepid. Heterocera Colln Br. Mus., 8: 48.

Nolaformosana Wileman & West, 1929, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (10), 3: 190, *praeocc.

Meganola major sspp. caesiopennis Inoue & takasago Inoue, 1982: 666.

Diagnosis and taxonomic note

The forewing facies is similar to that of gilletti, but with the punctate fasciae much more clearly defined, and with blackish medial and subbasal shallowly triangular patches on the costa.

The hindwings grade distinctly greyer towards the margin, and there is a grey discal mark.

The antennae are very strongly bipectinate.

The male genitalia resemble somewhat those of M. brunellus Hampson (see above) in having a rather robust uncus, narrow, slightly curved valves and a relatively basal harpe.

The aedeagus is slender, rather bulbous basally and with a long, narrow vesica that terminates in a single, large cornutus.

The species has been placed erroneously as a synonym of the lithosiine arctiid Lyclene distributa Walker (see Inoue et al. (1982).

Geographical range

Indian Subregion, Taiwan, Ryukyu Is., Burma, Singapore, Borneo, ?Java (see below), Vanuatu, New Caledonia (Holloway, 1979).

Habitat preference

Unusual for the genus, this species has been taken uniquely on the coast near mangrove in Brunei.

Biology

The host records for Nola distributa in Java noted by Piepers & Snellen (1904) may apply to major. One of these, Terminalia (Combretaceae), was recorded for major in India (unpublished IIE records).

Genitalia: