Macrosoma albifascia

Macrosoma albifascia is moth-like butterfly described by William Warren in 1904. It belongs to the family Hedylidae.^[1] Originally it belonged to the genus Phellinodes.^[2] A subspecies with the name M. albifascia albifascia was defined by Warren.^[3] Another subspecies M. albifascia expedita was proposed by Louis Beethoven Prout in 1932.^[2]

Macrosoma albifascia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hedylidae
Genus:	Macrosoma
Species:	M. albifascia
Binomial name
Macrosoma albifascia (Warren, 1904)
Synonyms
Phellinodes albifascia expedita Prout, 1932

Distribution

The species is found in the eastern Andes of South America (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia). The type locality is Carabaya, Santo Domingo,^{[clarification needed]} south-eastern Peru.^[2][3]

Description

Male

Wings

Male M. albifascia has wings of greyish brown ground colour.^[3] The apex or the anterior corner of the forewing is dark brown with white band stretching across the wing with prominent dark streak. The termen can have either poorly defined white triangular mark or without white mark, but two dark spot.^[4]
The length of the forewing is 23–25 mm.^[4]

Genitalia

Following are the characteristics of the genitalia:^[4]

• Short saccus.
• Gnathos with central element downcurved.
• Valva is subtriangular.

Antenna

The antenna is not bipectinate.^[4]

Diagnosis

The male genitalia of M. albifascia are similar to those of M. cascaria, the wing pattern is quite different, and the shape of the valva differs.^[4]

References

• Macrosoma albifascia - Overview - Encyclopedia of Life.
• Catalogue of Life.
• Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. Entomology series Vol 53 No 1.
• A catalogue of the Hedylidae (Lepidoptera: Hedyloidea), with descriptions of two new species.
• An identification guide to the Hedylidae (Lepidoptera: Hedyloidea).