Aganainae

6. Aganainae View in CoL View at ENA

Historically treated under Noctuidae or ‘Arctiidae’, Zahiri et al. (2011, 2012) confirmed its relationship with Herminiinae and placed within Erebidae .

Adult characters. Aganainae are predominantly large, robust, and vividly coloured lepidopterans. Both the larval and adult stages are associated with toxic host plants, and they frequently exhibit aposematic behaviour while flying during the day (Kitching & Rawlins 1998). Several taxa display sexual dimorphism, with males characterized by prominent androconial patches located at the costal base of the forewing upperside. The morphological features of adults include long, upright labial palps, with the third segment being elongated and slender; a bare lower frons; forewings that possess an orbicular stigma and a bar-shaped retinaculum; and a single central corema situated within the male’s eighth sternite. Additionally, the male genitalia are distinguished by a long, pointed uncus and a dorsally sclerotized scaphium (Kitching & Rawlins 1998).

Larval characters. Larvae are sometimes aposematic, patterned variously in black and white; hairy with primary setae very long and bear a single SY seta on the T2 and T3, abdominal prolegs fully developed.

Diversity and distribution. Approximately 150 species in 13 genera (including Mecodina and Psimada ) are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (Holloway 1988, Zahiri et al. 2012). In India , 41 species in eight genera are known.