Genus Zobida Birket-Smith, 1965

Zobida Birket-Smith, 1965.

Type species Eilema trinitas Strand, 1912 Archiv für Naturgeschichte 78 (A) 7: 181, by original designation.

Diagnosis.

Imago. Medium-sized species with almost no sexual dimorphism, although females tend to be slightly larger and with a more rounded forewing apex; the two black dots of the forewings preclude confusion with any other of the Eilema sensu lato group. Zobida is distinctly different from Eilema in morphology, larval chaetoetotaxy and DNA. Zobida bipuncta is the only European representative of the genus; it is also present in Morocco among some African congeners. It was erroneously included in Eilema by Toulgoët (1972) and Leraut (2006).

Male genitalia. Uncus moderate in width; oval valvae apex, distinct ventral process curved upwards; harpe on inner surface of valva at its base of complex shape and consists of two different processes: the hind one is bump like covered with small spines, the fore one is bifurcated hook-like; juxta without apical processes; sacculus wde and short; aedeagus wide, without an apical sclerotised fascia and cornuti.

Female genitalia. Antrum large and goblet-shaped, with sclerotised margins and a short membranous ductus bursae, corpus bursa without signum.

Molecular data. A single species of this genus (Zobida bipuncta) has been analysed, so we cannot be certain if the results presented for this species would also apply to the whole genus. There are other species of Zobida, for example Zobida avifex Kühne, 2010, Zobida colon (Möschler, 1872) and Zobida trinitas (Strand, 1912). None of them has been available to the authors and so it has not been possible to include their study in the present work.

Taxa included.

Zobida bipuncta (Hübner, [1824])