Palpares contrarius ( Walker, 1853 )

Palpares contrarius ( Walker, 1853) View in CoL ( Figs 5–8 View Figure 5 View Figure 6 View Figure 7 View Figure 8 ).

Myrmeleon contrarius Walker, 1853:301 (Odescr) View in CoL . Type locality: Sri Lanka; Palpares falcatus McLachlan, 1867:236 (Odescr) View in CoL . Type locality: Myanmar (former Burma); Symmathetes contrarius ( Walker, 1853) – McLachlan, 1867:237 (Comb); Symmathetes falcatus ( McLachlan, 1867) – McLachlan, 1867:237 (Comb); Lachlathetes contrarius ( Walker, 1853) View in CoL – Navás, 1926:I55 (Nom); Lachlathetes falcatus ( McLachlan, 1867) View in CoL – Navás, 1926:I55 (Nom); Palpares sinicus View in CoL C.- k. Yang, 1986:423 (Odescr), Giacomino & Ábrahám, 2018 (Syn). Type locality: China ( Yunnan); Palpares contrarius ( Walker, 1853) View in CoL – McLachlan, 1867 (Comb), Needham, 1909:200 (Dist), Ghosh & Sen, 1977:316 (Chlist), Ghosh, 1984:2 (Mon), 2000:73 (Mon), Chandra & Sharma, 2009:14 (Chlist), Chandra et al., 2011:157 (Dist), Sharma & Chandra, 2012:486 (Dist), Sharma & Chandra, 2013:164 (Dist), Anita & Tilak, 2024:26047 (Dist), Wachkoo et al., 2024:61 (Dist).

Diagnosis. Male (body length: 60 mm) larger than female (body length: 50 mm). Pronotum yellow, with a medial and two lateral dark-brown stripes. General colour of body brown. Tip of hindwing strongly concave below. Legs brown, tarsi dark-brown, tibial spurs as long as tarsal segments 1–2 together.

Materials examined. 2♀, INDIA, Kerala State, Palakkad District, Pudunagaram , 109 m, 10°40′57.72″N, 76°41′02.02″E, 20.X.2014, 22.X.2014, leg.: Bijoy. C., SERLNR034, SERLNR035 GoogleMaps ; 1♀, Kerala State, Kollam District, Rose mala, 402 m, 8°54′54.00″N, 77°10′12.23″E, 28.III.2021, leg.: Suryanarayanan. T.B., SERLNR313 GoogleMaps ; 1♀, Kerala State, Kollam District, Kattilapara , 315 m, 8°51′28.18″N, 77°13′03.08″E, 29.III.2021, leg.: Suryanarayanan. T.B., SERLNR314 GoogleMaps ; 1♀, Kerala State, Kozhikode District, Payamthondu , 40 m, 11°42′22.10″N, 75°42′31.90″E, 02.IV.2021, leg.: Shahel. A Z., SERLNR123 GoogleMaps ; 1♀, Kerala State, Kannur District, Kuthuparamba , 39 m, 11°49′54.78″N, 75°33′55.85″E, 08.IV.2021, leg.: Mohammed Anas. P. P., SERLNR128 GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Kerala State, Wayanad District, Begur , 733 m, 11°52′56.80″N, 76°04′43.66″E, 12.III.2022, leg.: Abhin. M. Sunil. & Suryanarayanan. T. B., SERLNR265 GoogleMaps ; 3♂, 2♀, Kerala State, Wayanad District, Thirunelly , 862 m, 11°54′40.17″N, 76°00′00.83″E, 21.III.2022, leg.: Suryanarayanan. T.B., SERLNR267, SERLNR268, SERLNR269, SERLNR270, SERLNR271 GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Kerala State, Idukki District, Kolahalamedu , 1113 m, 09°39′03.96″N, 76°55′43.01″E, 12.III.2023, leg.: Mohammed Ramees K., SERLNR355 GoogleMaps .

Redescription. Male (n=4). Body length: 59–60 mm; forewing length: 57–58 mm, width 18 mm; hindwing: length 56–57 mm, width 16 mm. Female (n=4). Body length: 49–50 mm; forewing length: 62– 63 mm, width: 18 mm; hindwing length: 60–61 mm, width: 17 mm ( Fig. 5A–B View Figure 5 ).

Head ( Fig. 6A–C View Figure 6 ). Vertex yellow with dark-brown band proximally joined to distal dark-brown band by median dark-brown line. Frons yellow with pale brown transverse stripe below and above scapus, with white setae, inter-antennal mark dark-brown, anterior tentorial pits brown. Gena dark-brown dorsally and yellow basally. Eyes large, slightly wider than frons. Scape large, dark-brown with black hairs; pedicel reddish-brown with dark-brown annulation; flagellomeres annulated with dark-brown and pale rings. Club dark-brown, thicker at tip than at base. Clypeus yellow with row of long black setae on dorsal margin; labrum yellow with ochreous setae on ventral margin, maxillary palps, labial palps dark-brown, palpimacula reaching tip distally; mandible dark-brown with black apices and inner surface.

Thorax ( Fig. 6B View Figure 6 ). Pronotum wider than long, yellow, with one longitudinal dark-brown band medially and two bands laterally, covered with brown hairs, especially on margins; mesonotum and metanotum generally yellow, medially with narrow dark-brown stripe, covered with long white and brown hairs on distal margin.

Wings ( Fig. 6D View Figure 6 ). Forewing tip subacute and slightly concave below, anal area obtuse, hind margin concave, venation dense, covered with short sparse dark-brown setae. Costa brown with short dense dark-brown setae. Costal area with single rows of cells, cells longer than wide, with dark-brown shaded patches. Cross-veins simple near base, but bifurcated in front of pterostigma. Pterostigma indistinct reddish-brown with 5–6 cross-veins, veins bifurcated basally and simple distally. Subcosta and R yellow alternating dark-brown at cross-veins. 6–7 cross-veins in front of origin of Rs. Mp, Mp 1 and Cua, Cua 1 also dark-brown alternating light-brown sections at cross-veins. Cross-veins dominantly brown and highly shaded in basal medio-cubital area. Cubital fork ca. 30°, acute enough. Membrane with four dark-brown bands ( Fig. 6D View Figure 6 ). Hindwing wide enough, tip acute, strongly falcate below, hind margin slightly concave. Costa yellow with short dark dense brown setae. 2–3 cross-veins bifurcated in front of pterostigma otherwise simple, both ends brown. Pterostigma indistinct reddish-brown. Subscosta brown with alternating dark-brown at cross-veins R predominantly brown. 3–4 cross-veins in front of origin of Rs. Mp, Cua, Cua 1, and Cup dominantly dark-brown with dark-brown sections at meeting points with cross-veins. Cross-veins dominantly dark-brown basally, brown distally in medio-cubital area. Membrane with three dark-brown bands ( Fig. 6D View Figure 6 ).

Legs ( Fig. 6E–F View Figure 6 ). Short and strong, dark-brown with black bristles and short white hairs. Coxae dark-brown densely covered with long black bristles; trochanter dark-brown; mid and hind femur dark-brown, covered with long black bristles and short white setae laterally; tibiae generally dark-brown, covered with long black bristles and short brown and white setae; hind tibia dark-brown, covered with long black setae and short white setae, tibial spurs reddish-brown, as long as tarsomeres 1–2 together; tarsi dark-brown, covered with long black and short white setae; tarsal claws slightly curved, reddish-brown, 3/4 as long as tarsal segment 5.

Abdomen. Shorter than hindwing, dark-brown, covered with short black setae. Distal margin of each tergum dark-brown with pale brown longitudinal line. Sternites dark-brown, with long black setae.

Male terminalia and genitalia ( Fig. 7A–D View Figure 7 ). In lateral view, tergum 9 quadrate, ectoproct base oval with cylindrical, curved caudal-ventral processus, longer diagonal of base and length of processus almost equal. Ectoproct base covered with small black hairs, processus with dense, stiff, acute black setae. In ventral view, sternite 9 triangular, and covered with black hairs. Two or three strong acute bristles directed inwards on basal part of processus. Caudal part of processus also covered with strong short black bristles directed inwards. Genitalia as in Figure 7C–D View Figure 7 in dorsal and ventral views.

Female terminalia ( Fig. 7E–F View Figure 7 ). In lateral view, tergum 8 quadrate; ectoproct semicircular, covered with black hairs and with prominent short stout setae caudal-ventrally. In lateral view, gonocoxite 8 short with some stout setae, and gonocoxite 9 club-shaped, caudally covered with stout black setae.

Distribution. Cambodia ( Navás, 1914), China ( Ábrahám & Giacomino, 2020), India ( Needham, 1909), Laos ( Giacomino & Ábrahám, 2018), Myanmar ( McLachlan, 1867), Sri Lanka ( Walker, 1853), Thailand ( Giacomino & Ábrahám, 2018), and Vietnam ( Krivokhatsky, 1997).

Flight period and habitat. Adults are active at night, and attracted by artificial light. In the daytime, it sits on dry bushes at rest ( Fig. 8A–B View Figure 8 ), because of the colour and pattern of the wing, it looks like an old dry leaf and can easily camouflage from the surrounding environment. The habitat is surrounded by trees and bushes in the forest as well as in synanthropic ecosystems which are recorded from different altitudes. It is not a pit-building species. The adult flight period in India is mainly observed during March, April, and October based on the literature ( Fig. 15 View Figure 15 ). The same pattern was observed by Suryanarayanan & Bijoy (2023).

Distribution in India ( Fig. 16 View Figure 16 ). Karnataka (Coorg), Kerala (Kattilapara, Kolahalamedu, Kuthuparamba, Payamthondu, Pudunagaram, Rosemala, Thirunelly), Madhya Pradesh (Pachmarhi), Maharashtra (Koyna), Mizoram (Chhimtuipui), Odisha (Cuttack, Mayurbhanj, Khordha), Tamil Nadu (Tambaram), Uttarakhand (Mussoorie).

Comments. Mathew (1993) recorded Palpares infimus ( Walker, 1853) from Malayattoor in Ernakulam district, Kerala. This was the only reported Palpares species from the Kerala state. As the above specimen was destroyed in the collection, the species of the specimen was not fully confirmed by us. It may be misidentified and may be Palpares contrarius ( Walker, 1853) . Still, Malayattoor was not added to the list of P. contrarius from Kerala.