Generic Revision Of The Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae) Part 2: Josiini
Author
Miller, James S
text
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
2009
2009-06-30
2009
321
675
1022
http://dx.doi.org/10.1206/321.1-1
journal article
10.1206/321.1-1
0003-0090
Josia lativitta
Walker
Josia lativitta
Walker, 1869: 6–7
.
TYPE
LOCALITY
: Not known.
TYPE
: Not seen (
BMNH
?).
DISCUSSION
: I was not able to establish the identity of
J. lativitta
. The location of the
type
remains a mystery. Intense searches during numerous visits to the BMNH were fruitless, and it is not at the OUMNH, where several Walker
types
are housed.
Walker’s (1869)
description suggests that this moth belongs in
Josia
: the head, palpus, and abdomen are white beneath; the abdomen bears ochreous lateral stripes, and the wing stripes are wide, ‘‘luteous white’’. According to
Prout (1918: 423)
‘‘Walker’s
type
has the band of the forewing bleached white, but evidently belongs to the Amazonian species which resembles
oribia
except in the narrower orange areas’’. Hering gave no definitive characters for the species. His illustration of
lativitta
(
Hering, 1925
: fig. 71b) shows a moth similar to
oribia
, but with narrower longitudinal FW bands, thus matching Prout’s diagnosis. On the other hand, the specimen in Hering’s figure is indistinguishable from many known examples of
J. ligula
. The latter is Amazonian (see below), which vaguely plays into this discussion. To summarize: The identity of
J. lativitta
is in question, but I have placed it in the
Ligula
Group based on the scant evidence at hand. It will be essential to locate and study the
type
.
DISTRIBUTION
: Not known.
DISSECTED
: None.