A Revision of the African Species of Sesamia Guenée and related Genera (Agrotidae-Lepidoptera)

Abstract

The primary object of the work which is the subject of this paper was to clarify the confusion that has existed for many years in the nomenclature and taxonomy of certain important Agrotid borers of graminaceous crops in Africa.The genera involved are Spcia, Sciomesa, Poeonoma, Conicofrontia, Bussecla and Sesamia, and of these the first three are new and are described and the others are redescribed. A key to the genera and keys to the species of Sciomesa, Poeonoma and Sesamia are given. The genus Speia is erected for Phalaena vuteria Stoll; the name vuteria Stoll has been wrongly applied to the important pest of sugar-cane in Mauritius, which is, in fact, the well known Sesamia calamistis Hampson. Sciomesa is erected to contain three species previously included in Conicofrontia. Poeonoma also contains three species, of which one is Phragmatiphila serrata Hampson and the other two are new. Hampson's species Conicofrontia sesamoides is redescribed in Conicofrontia and is the only species of that genus dealt with in detail; Phragmatiphila bipartita Hampson is synonymised with it. In the genus Busseola, only the well known pest, B. fusca (Fuller) is described.