Stenares harpyia ( Gerstaecker, 1863 )

Stenares harpyia ( Gerstaecker, 1863) View in CoL ( Figs 9–14 View Figure 9 View Figure 10 View Figure 11 View Figure 12 View Figure 13 View Figure 14 ).

Palpares harpyia Gerstaecker, 1863:180 (Odescr) View in CoL ; Stenares harpyia ( Gerstaecker, 1863) View in CoL – Hagen, 1866:460 (Comb), Banks, 1913:190 (Tax), Esben-Petersen, 1931:445 (Dist), Kimmins, 1945:99 (Tax, Dist), Ghosh & Sen, 1977:317 (Chlist), Ghosh, 1990:455 (Tax, Dist), Whittington, 2002:385 (Dist), Stange, 2004:67 ( Mon), Chandra & Sharma, 2009:14 (Chlist), Wachkoo et al., 2024:62 (Dist).

Diagnosis. General colour dark-brown. Eyes conspicuously large, palpimacula reaching tip of last labial segment. Pronotum yellow with a wide dark-brown longitudinal stripe and small dark-brown spot on either side of stripe. Cells in costal area of both wings divided into two rows. Hind wing tip rounded. A narrow transparent stripe extending from tip to base of hindwing between two broad brown spots. Legs dark-brown to black, tibial spurs as long as tarsal segments 1–3 combined.

Materials examined. 2♂♂, INDIA, Kerala State, Wayanad District, Thirunelly , 862 m, 11°54′40.17″N, 76°00′00.83″E, 09.IV.2021, 23.III.2022, leg.: Suryanarayanan. T.B., SERLNR132, SERLNR275 GoogleMaps ; 1♀, Kerala State, Pathanamthitta District, Gavi , 1179 m, 9°26′03.82″N, 77°09′52.21″E, 11.IV.2021, leg.: Vishnu Das. E. H. & Suryanarayanan. T. B., SERLNR142 GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Kerala State, Idukki District, Vallakkadavu , 806 m, 9°34′19.64″N, 77°05′22.43″E, 26.II.2022, leg.: Vishnu. R. & Suryanarayanan. T. B., SERLNR263 GoogleMaps .

Redescription. Male (n=3). Body length: 51–52 mm; forewing length: 65–66 mm, width 15 mm; hindwing: length 63–64 mm, width 15 mm. Female (n=1). Body length: 52 mm; forewing length: 70 mm, width: 18 mm; hindwing length: 68 mm, width: 17 mm ( Fig. 9A–B View Figure 9 ).

Head ( Fig. 10A–D View Figure 10 ). In dorsal view, vertex divided by dark-brown line medially and with dark-brown spots at least five rows transversly. In frontal view, vertex yellow and strongly arched. Frons yellow with narrow brown transverse stripe below and above scapus, with white setae, inter-antennal spot dark-brown, anterior tentorial pits brown. Gena black dorsally and yellow basally. Eyes blackish-brown, large, slightly wider than frons width. Antenna black, longer than length of head and prothorax combined; scape dark reddish-brown with black hairs; pedicel dark-brown; flagellomeres dark-brown and annulated short white and black setae; club black. Clypeus yellow, covered with sparse brown setae; labrum yellow, maxillary and labial palps dark-brown. Mandible dark-brown to black.

Thorax ( Fig. 10B View Figure 10 ). Pronotum wider than long, yellow, medially with a longitudinal dark-brown stripe and dark-brown spot on either side of stripe covered with long white hairs; mesonotum and metanotum generally dark-brown with small yellow marks covered with long dense white and brown hairs in lateral margins.

Wings ( Fig. 10C View Figure 10 ). Forewing tip obtuse and with straight margin below, anal area obtuse, anal margin slightly concave, venation dense, cross veins marked with small dark-brown dots entirely. Venation covered with short sparse dark-brown setae. Costa dark-brown with short dense dark-brown setae. Costal area with two rows of cells, cells longer than wide. Costal cross-veins simple near base but bifurcated in front of pterostigma. Pterostigma indistinct, yellow with 4–5 veins. Subcosta and R dark yellow alternating dark-brown sections at cross-veins. 3–4 regular cells and 6–7 irregular cells in 2–3 rows in front of origin of Rs. Mp, Mp 1, Cua, and Cua 1 also dark-brown with alternating yellow sections. Cross-veins dominantly brown and strongly shaded in basal medio-cubital area. Cubital fork ca. 30°, acute enough. Dark-brown pattern as in Figure 9A View Figure 9 , variable. A 1, A 2, and A 3 yellow basally and brown distally. Hindwing C dark-brown with short dark dense brown setae. Costal area with two rows of cells, cells longer than wide, with dark-brown shaded marks before pterostigma. Pterostigma indistinct, yellow with 4–5 bifurcated veins. Subcosta and R dark-yellow alternating dark-brown sections at cross-veins. 1–3 regular and 3–5 irregular cells in front of origin of Rs. Mp, Mp 1 and Cua, Cua 1 dominantly dark-brown. Cross-veins predominantly brown basally, and yellow distally in medio-cubital area. Pattern on membrane as in Figure 9B View Figure 9 , variable.

Legs ( Fig. 10E–F View Figure 10 ). Short, strong, and brown to dark-brown with dark-brown and black hairs and short rigid black bristles. Coxae brown densely covered with long black hairs; trochanters brown; mid and hind femora dark-brown covered with long black bristles and white setae; femora longer than tibiae. Fore and mid tibiae generally dark-brown, covered with long black bristles and small brown and white setae. Hind tibia dark-brown, covered with long black and short brown setae. Tibial spurs reddish-brown, as long as tarsomeres 1–3 together; tarsi dark-brown, covered with long black setae; tarsal claws slightly curved, reddish-brown, 1/2 as long as tarsal segment 5.

Abdomen. Shorter than hindwing, blackish-brown, covered with short black setae; Posterior margin of each tergum with shiny black rings. Sternites dark-brown, with long black setae.

Male terminalia and genitalia ( Fig. 11A–D View Figure 11 ). Tergite 9 not fused. In lateral view, tergite 9 quadrate; ectoproct long oval, processus cylindrical, long, subacute at tip, covered with dense small black setae. Processus twice as long as base of ectoproct. In ventral view, sternum 9 subquadrate, covered with long black setae. Processus with prominent protuberance at base, covered with dense short setae. Dense short setae cover entire length of inner half of processus. Genitalia as in Figure 11C – D View Figure 11 in dorsal and ventral views. Gonocoxites 9 less sclerotized, inclined outwards, and angular. Median bulla covered with very dense short setae in ventral view.

Female terminalia ( Fig. 11E–F View Figure 11 ). In lateral view, tergite 8 almost trapezoidal; ectoproct ovoid, caudadorsally covered with black hairs and cauda-ventrally with short, strong, stout setae; gonocoxite 9 club-shaped, posteriorly covered with some stout setae. In ventral view, sternite 8 with stiff, acute bristles on caudal margin, gonocoxite 8 finger-shaped, covered with small black setae; gonocoxite 9 with stout and black setae, caudally.

Distribution. India ( Esben-Petersen, 1931), Sri Lanka ( Gerstaecker, 1863).

Flight period and habitat. Adults are active at night and attracted by artificial light. Some specimens are collected through this method. In the daytime, it sits on dry grass blades at rest and can easily camouflage from predators ( Fig. 12A–B View Figure 12 ). The habitat is surrounded by grassland in the forest ecosystem which is recorded from above 800 m altitude. It is not a pit-building species. The adult flight period in India is mainly observed during February, March, April, and May based on this study and data in published literature ( Fig. 15 View Figure 15 ).

Distribution in India ( Fig. 16 View Figure 16 ). Kerala (Gavi, Thirunelly, Vallakkadavu), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore), Telangana (Anantagiri Hills).

Wing pattern variability ( Figs 9A – B View Figure 9 ; 13A – B View Figure 13 ; 14A – B View Figure 14 ). In the tribe Palparini , the pattern of the wings is usually variable. The variability of the forewing pattern is more significant than that of the hindwing pattern. We compared the wing pattern of the syntype specimens ( 2 females) from Sri Lanka (NfM, Berlin, Germany), the non-type specimens ( MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland), which also come from Sri Lanka, and 3 males and 1 female collected in Kerala during the current study. We found that the wing patterns show significant differences on both wings and that the wing pattern is not gender-specific. The bands on the forewing are completely absent in one male and more or less visible in the other males. The apical mark is clearly visible and divided, and marginal spots are also visible on all specimens. The pattern on the hindwing is much more pronounced, the colour of the spots is basally dark brown, but depending on the storage conditions they can fade to reddish brown .

The basal band is missing on the hindwing, the medial band is divided into 2 or 3 parts. The shape of the prestigmal band can vary, in most cases, it reaches almost to the posterior margin. This band is separated from the marginal spot by a broad band extending towards the medial band. The apical mark is divided by a transparent narrow strip extending from the tip towards the wing base is also characteristic. The pattern of the hindwing of S. harpyia is typical of the species and can be easily distinguished. Previously published faunal data of S. harpyia from India need to be revised.

Comments. Stenares harpyia specimens collected in Kerala are morphologically conspecific with the syntype specimens from Sri Lanka ( Fig. 14A – B View Figure 14 ). However, other Stenares species reported from India require revision as they are characterised by sexual dimorphism and a high degree of variability between specimens. The known Stenares species require a complete morphological revision and their genetic examination is also essential.