''Macrocilix mysticata'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

in the family

Drepanidae The Drepanidae are a family of moths with about 660 species described worldwide. They are generally divided in three subfamilies) which share the same type of hearing organ. Thyatirinae, previously often placed in their own family, bear a super ...

first described by Francis Walker in 1863. It is found in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 31–38 mm. Adults are on wing in March and August. The larvae feed on the leaves of '' Castanopsis formosana'' and '' Pasania konishii''. Mature larvae spin silk and curve the leaf, making a compact oval, whitish cocoon where pupation takes place.

Subspecies

*''Macrocilix mysticata mysticata'' (northern India, Sikkim, Myanmar) *''Macrocilix mysticata brevinotata'' Watson, 1968 (China: Sichuan) *''Macrocilix mysticata campana'' H.F. Chu & L.Y. Wang, 1988 (China: Sichuan, Chejiang, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Fujien) *''Macrocilix mysticata flavotincta'' Wileman, 1915 (Taiwan) *''Macrocilix mysticata watsoni'' Inoue, 1958 (Japan, China: Fukien, Chekiang, Kwangtung, Yunnan, Sichuan)

References

Moths described in 1863 Drepaninae Moths of Japan {{Drepaninae-stub