Taxonomy | Geometridae | Ennominae | Ourapteryx
with thanks to @vrxz for making me look back at the HK Ourapteryx observations a second time
There are two Ourapteryx species in HK - the well observed O. clara, and an overlooked (for years) and as yet unidentified montane taxon, close to O. yerburii.
With careful observation of the hindwing caudal pattern elements these two taxa are easily separated: O. clara has a thin caudal line, mostly blue, and with no red blotch/rectangle.
Compare:
RED rectangle/blotch and grey shading in caudal tail pattern - sp. near. O. yerburii
BLUE line and dot with yellow shading in caudal tail pattern - O. clara
Comments
O. yerburii has more circular red markings and sometimes doesn't have the dark grey band connecting the two spots. Hsu-Hong Lin from TBRI summarized some diagnostic features of Taiwanese Ourapteryx, including clara and yerburii:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hsuhong/32811913256/in/album-72157643785916413/
I found this guide very useful since it took me a long time to figure out the subtle differences between species.
Still, I am expecting species from nearby regions to be found in HK, such as yerburii, pallidula, karsholti, or even changi.
many thanks for those pointer @vrxz
much appreciated.
Thank you for sharing this info!
I've taken a look at the karlsholti in Wang & Kishida - looks a closer match and has the prominent grey shadowing at the caudal angle of the h/w termen.
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