Image of Xenochroa purpurea Hampson ♂ — ♂

Xenochroa purpurea Hampson comb. n.

Carea purpurea Hampson, 1891, Illust. typical Specimens lepid. Heterocera Colln Br. Mus., 8: 59.

Carea devia Hampson, 1912: 555, syn. n.

Carea infundibulata Warren, 1916, Novit. zool., 23: 225, syn. n.

Xenochroa devia Hampson; Kobes, 1997: 121.

Xenochroa infundibulata Warren; Kobes, 1997: 130.

Diagnosis

The forewings are a dull orange red with a violet shade grading into dark red at the distal margin.

There is a dark discal spot flanked by fine fasciae, the antemedial oblique, slightly sinuous, the postmedial more transverse but obtusely angled basad subcostally.

The hindwings are paler orange-fawn, but also grade darker towards the margin.

Taxonomic Notes

All taxa brought into synonymy share a similar facies, albeit with some variations in shade and development of the forewing discal spot (see below), an unusually erect costal process to the valve and a relatively distal position to the small cluster of spines and ductus ejaculatorius in the aedeagus vesica.

There is some regional variation in facies: purpurea has a dark forewing; devia has a pale one; infundibulata is intermediate with a more prominent discal spot.

Kobes recorded both devia (one specimen only) and infundibulata from Sumatra, but his genitalia figures for both show the valve characteristic mentioned above.