6 A. WATSON 



diversity in the structure of the antennae, the shape of the wings, and the form of 

 the male and female genitalia. Isospidia gen. n. and Uranometra Bryk are possibly 

 monophyletic with Spidia. The distribution of Negera Walker is also extensive, 

 and it too exhibits considerable specific diversity in the shape of the wings and 

 genitalia. Gonoreta has a wide distribution in Africa and is also known from 

 Madagascar, suggesting a past history comparable with that of Epicampoptera, 

 although there is much less structural difference between its species than between 

 species of Epicampoptera. The Madagascan genus Gonoretodes may be an offshoot 

 from Gonoreta. 



There are insufficient records for conclusions to be drawn regarding the exact 

 limits of distribution, but in general these approximately coincide with the boun- 

 daries of the rain-forest and montane forest regions. Certain species, however, are 

 able to tolerate less moist conditions at least during part of the year and may occur 

 in areas of woodland and forest-savanna ; but without accurate ecological data it is 

 not possible to be certain whether a given specimen from, say, Uganda was taken 

 in woodland or forest-savanna or from an isolated patch of rain-forest within the 

 latter. The species of Spidia, for example, are known mainly from the rain-forest 

 areas of the Congo Basin and West Africa, but with one species, goniata Watson, 

 apparently restricted to the montane forests of Ruwenzori. Gonoreta opacifinis 

 sp. n. has a distribution in West Africa and the Congo Basin similar to that of 

 Spidia, but also occurs, without apparent geographic variation, in the Kalinzu 

 forest (rain-forest) of south-western Uganda and in thick woodland in the Vumba 

 Mountains, Southern Rhodesia. Gonoreta subtilis Bryk is also widely distributed 

 in the rain-forest regions of tropical Africa, extending from Sierra Leone to the 

 Usambara Mountains of Tanganyika : in this species the West African populations 

 are subspecifically distinct from the remainder, whereas in Isospidia angustipennis 

 Warren the boundary between its two subspecies lies near the eastern edge of the 

 main rain-forest belt of the Congo Basin. 



Maps 1-7 show the distribution of 42 of the 48 African species of Drepanidae. 

 Each symbol on the maps indicates the collection of one or more specimens of a 

 particular species. It is noteworthy that 40 of the species are either confined to 

 the main rain-forest belt (and bordering savanna) of central Africa or have ranges 

 including central Africa. The range of the polytypic Negera natalensis Warren 

 which extends from Senegal to Cape Province is particularly extensive. Apart from 

 Negera natalensis only Epicampoptera notialis sp. n. is known to occur in South 

 Africa. Both species seem to be confined here to the belt of forest-savanna along 

 the east coast. Five species are confined to West Africa and two to East Africa. 



Only one genus of the subfamily Drepaninae is present in Africa. This is 

 Callidrepana Felder, a genus of about twenty-five species, otherwise known from 

 the Oriental and Australasian Regions and from the south-east corner of the 

 Palearctic Region. The three African species, none of which have been captured 

 east of the Great Rift Valley, are probably quite closely allied to three of the Oriental 

 species of Callidrepana. This suggests the relatively recent existence of a continuous 

 distribution connecting the African and Oriental Drepaninae. 



