Syndemis Hübner
Type species: musculana Hübner
The genus is probably monotypic.
DIAGNOSIS
External characters:
Venation:
venation Syndemis musculana
Forewing: All veins are separate; CuP rather weak except for terminal portion.
Hindwing: R -M 1 stalked.
Forewing shape and markings:
Syndemis musculana males; Syndemis musculana females
Forewing weakly expanding posteriorly, costa bent throughout, apex rounded. Males with narrow and short costal fold. Markings consisting of basal patch, median fascia and apical patch.
Sexual dimorphism:
Forewings of females without costal fold.
Genitalia:
Male:
male genitalia S. musculana
Uncus slender, with rudimentary group of ventral hairs terminally; socius small; arm of gnathos simple. Valva ovate, with fairly small folded area of disc and small but well-defined anterior sclerite fusing with transtilla; sacculus with posterior plate; pulvinus weak in form of longer hairs on delicate fold. Transtilla a simple transverse plate, weakly expanding laterally; aedeagus simple, with small coecum penis and slender caulis; cornuti long.
Female:
female gen. S. musculana
Sterigma moderate, concave medially with short antevaginal portion, membranously connected with antrum; antrum short, well sclerotized; inception of ductus seminalis situated just before antrum. Ductus bursae long, with short, median cestum; corpus bursae fairly small, rounded; signum rather small.
Taxonomic note:
In North America the species Syndemis afflictana (Walker) occurs. This species is probably no more than a geographical race of Syndemis musculana.
Early stages:
The full-grown larva is about 18-22 mm long; varying from olive-green or yellowish green to grey-brown or blackish brown in colour, paler ventrally, with a broad dorsal line which is slightly darker than the ground colour; the pinacula are rather prominent, paler than the ground colour. Spiracle larger on eighth abdominal segment than on prothorax. V setae set further apart on the ninth abdominal segment than on the eighth. Seta L1 situated ventrally to L2 and L3 on prothorax.
Pupae are blackish brown.
Biology:
One single generation yearly; hibernation occurs in the larval stage; larvae are polyphagous.
Distribution:
The genus occurs in the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions.