Abstract
The arctiine genus Alphaea Walker, 1855 is distributed in North and North East India, Nepal, southern China and northern Indochina. The genus was recently reviewed by Dubatolov & Kishida (2005). It is subdivided into three subgenera, Alphaea, Flavalphaea Dubatolov & Kishida, 2005 and Nayaca Moore, 1979 and includes 10 valid species. During a lepidopterological expedition to the north-western part of China’s Yunnan Province in May of 2018, an undetermined species of Alphaea was collected. The Chinese specimens have the wing pattern very similar to that of A. (Flavalphaea) khasiana (Rothschild, 1910), but red and black abdomen (that is orange and black in A. khasiana).
References
Dubatolov, V.V. & Kishida, Y. (2005) Review of the genus Alphaea Walker, 1855 (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Tinea, 18 (4), 241–252.
Moore, F. (1979) [Heterocera]. In: Descriptions of new Indian Lepidopterous Insects from the collection of the late Mr. W.S. Atkinson. Part 1. Taylor and Francis, London, pp. 5–88.
Rothschild, W. (1910) Catalogue of the Arctianae in the Tring museum, with notes and descriptions of new species. Novitates Zoologicae, 17 (2), 113–171.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.13688
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Walker, F. (1864 [1865]) List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Vol. 31. Trustees of the British Museum, London, 322 pp.