Genus Ricanoptera Melichar
Ricanoptera extensa Melichar
Genus Ricanoptera Melichar 1898: 391
Type species: Ricanoptera inculta Melichar 1898, by
subsequent designation of Distant 1906c
Known species: Eighteen species were included in the genus by Metcalf (1955), distributed in the Oriental Region (India to Indonesia and Philippines), Afrotropical region (Madagascar, Tanzania) and Australasian region. Three species are recorded in Australia: R. extensa Melichar from "Australien", R. patricia Melichar from Queensland and R. prominula Schmidt, also from Queensland. A record of R. mellerborgi Stål, as Ricania discalis (Walker), in New Zealand by Riley and Howard (1891) is presumed to be a misidentification of Scolypopa australis.
Notes: Melichar (1923) uses the presence of three hind tibial spines in his key to differentiate this genus from Scolypopa but in the description he notes that the hind tibiae may have two or three spines. Melichar's two syntypes of R. extensa Melichar and the type of R. inculta have been examined and all have only two spines on the hind tibia. There is an indication of a minute third spine towards the base of the tibia but this is also found in some specimens of Scolypopa. This feature therefore cannot be used to differentiate between Ricanoptera and Scolypopa. The key provided by Melichar (1898a) does not use this feature but differentiates Ricanoptera and Scolypopa using the shape of the tegmen, that of Scolypopa being narrower than that of Ricanoptera. Measurements of the length of the costal and apical margins of available type specimens of Ricanoptera extensa and R. inculta and Scolypopa (three species combined) indicate that the apical margin is generally shorter relative to the costal margin in species of Scolypopa than it is in species of Ricanoptera.