Thalassodes immissaria Walker

Thalassodes immissaria Walker, 1861, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus. 22: 583.

Thalassodes immissaria intaminata Inoue, 1971, *Bull. Fac. dom. Science, Otsuma Wom. Univ. 7 :144.

Diagnosis

This species can be distinguished from the previous one in the male genitalia by the large, tongue-like process that extends dorsally from the region of the transtilla.

The scobinate flap is narrower and the arcuate ridge in the sacculus less pronounced than in depulsata. The distal margin of the eighth sternite is less excavate centrally, with short, acute processes flanking the excavation.

Taxonomic Notes

There is some variation in the scobinate flap (narrow in a specimen from Sumatra (slide 4114) and with a subbasal angle in one from Sulawesi (slide 4161)). The concept is based on a specimen from Sri Lanka (slide 3003) proposed by D.S. Fletcher (MS) as a possible Neotype for immissaria (type probably lost).

Inoue (2005b, 2006) has indicated that Thalassodes inaminata Inoue is distinct from immissaria Walker. Its distribution from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Sumatra and the Philippines suggests it may also occur in Borneo. It has a more acute flap of the valve of the male genitalia, a particularly robust cornutus in the aedeagus and a more deeply and broadly excavate eighth sternite. In the female, the ductus bursae is much shorter.

Geographical range

Sri Lanka, Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi (dissected material only - see above); Ryukyu Is. (ssp. intaminata). The species is probably widespread in the Oriental tropics.

Habitat preference

The only Bornean specimen identified is from Semengok, near Kuching in Sarawak (slide 8685).

Biology

There is material from India attributed to immissaria in the Natural History Museum that was reared from Mangifera (Anacardiaceae), Lagerstroemia (Lythraceae) and Nephelium (Sapindaceae).

Genitalia: