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Meharia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meharia
Meharia hackeri female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Cossidae
Genus: Meharia
Chrétien, 1915
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Blalia Rungs, 1943

Meharia is a genus of moths belonging to the family Cossidae.

Diagnosis

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Meharia is distinguished from all other Cossidae genus by a number of apomorphous characters: the specific “tineoid appearance”, the reduction of the lateral processes of the juxta, the specific dorsolateral sclerotization of the asymmetric aedeagus and the specific ribbon – like epiphysis.

Description

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These are small to medium-sized moths, females larger; eyes naked; male and female antennae bipectinate along their length; proboscis reduced; legs long, slender; foretibia bearing a ribbon-like epiphysis; forewing elongate, rounded on the outer margin; forewing pattern has alternate dark and pale spots and bands transversely; hindwing uniform.[1]

Distribution

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Eleven species have been reported so far, primarily from the deserts and arid mountains of the Western Palearctic and Africa.

Species

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References

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  1. ^ Borth, Robert; Ivinskis, Povilas; Saldaitis, Aidas; Yakovlev, Roman (2011-08-11). "Cossidae of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)". ZooKeys (122): 45–69. Bibcode:2011ZooK..122...45B. doi:10.3897/zookeys.122.1213. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 3187673. PMID 21998527.