Herminiinae

7. Herminiinae View in CoL View at ENA

Adult characters. Herminiinae typically exhibit cryptic behaviour in their adult stage. While certain taxa consume the living leaves of various plant types, the majority prefer to feed on dead or desiccated foliage, predominantly that which remains attached to the plant rather than that which has fallen to the ground. ( Holloway 2008). Members of Herminiinae have long, upright labial palps with an elongate, thin third segment and a bare lower frons comparable to that of Aganainae ; hair brushes also occur on labial palps of some taxa. Herminiinae species have a prespiracular counter-tympanal hood except those of Bocana Walker , Hadennia Moore and Rhapsa Walker in which the hood is postspiracular. The forelegs are highly modified, with eversible tufts of setae on some of the segments and the apex of the fore tibia often enlarged and forming a hood over the reduced tarsal segments and associated scale brushes (Fibiger & Lafontaine 2006; Holloway 2011). The metepimeron is generally strongly swollen ventral to pocket IV of the tympanal organ. The forewing lacks orbicular stigmata, and males may have costal folds. In the male genitalia, the uncus tends to be well developed and deep but tapers to a small, usually downturned point apically; some species have the uncus domed or with a spine; valvae are often simple, tongue-like, modifications mostly in the form of a distal extension of the costa or sacculus into one or more processes or spines; sometimes such processes arise more basally on the margin; the aedeagus is usually a straight or slightly curved tube; the vesica is large, characteristically angled dorsally, with large cornuti rare. In female genitalia, the ductus bursae is robust but often long and reinforced usually by two longitudinal sclerotized strips often rendering the ostium somewhat bilobed.

Larval characters. In most genera, all the four prolegs are present.

Diversity and distribution. Around 1400 species are known worldwide. Naarda Walker and Bertula Walker are the most conspicuous genera distributed predominantly in Oriental region. In India , 131 species in 31 genera are present.