AGATHIINI BAN & HAN, 2018

AGATHIINI BAN & HAN TRIB. NOV.

Type genus: Agathia Guenée, 1858 ( Holloway, 1996: plates 7, 8 and 10, figs 194–211, 213–216, 239, 243; Han & Xue, 2011a: figs 22–28 of plate 19, figs 1–8 of plate 20, figs 371–385, 690–704 and 884–893).

Differential features: Wings are bright green. The antennae are filiform in both males and females. The hind tibia of the male is dilated, with hair-pencil. The forewing usually possesses distinctive medial and terminal bands and a series of patches. Veins M 3 and CuA 1 are connate at the cell on the hindwing, and 3A is present. Sternite 3 of the male abdomen usually has a pair of setal patches. The two branches of the socii are close to each other and are fused at the base, resembling those of Pseudoterpna , Dooabia and Louisproutia Wehrli. The costa of the valva is ornamented with a dorsal process. In the female genitalia, the corpus bursae usually has a bicornute signum.

Agathiini is established here as a new tribe, tentatively including only the genus, Agathia , represented by three species, including the type species of the genus Hypagathia Inoue (synonym of Agathia ), Agathia carissima Butler. Agathia is a large genus, including 77 species worldwide ( Scoble, 1999; Scoble & Hausmann, 2007) and is widely distributed in Southeast Asia, Australia and Africa. Inoue (1961), Viidalepp (1981), Hausmann (1996) and Beljaev (2016) placed Agathia in Pseudoterpnini (or Terpnini) mainly based on morphological studies. Stekolnikov & Kuznetzov (1981) suggested that it belongs to Ochrognesiini ( Nemoriini ) on the basis of the functional morphology (muscles) of the male genitalia. Holloway (1996) did not place it into any tribe and stated that it is unwise to erect a new tribe without a well-understood classification of Geometrinae in its entirety. In this study, species of Agathia form a distinct group that branched off after Ornithospilini and are placed in a more basal position, unlike the results of Sihvonen et al. (2011), in which Agathia is positioned at the base of the second major lineage with very weak support. The combination of the bright green wing colour, the structure of the socii and the presence of a dorsal ornament of the valva distinguish Agathiini from other known tribes.