Utetheisa is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae. The genus was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1819.
| Utetheisa | |
|---|---|
| |
| Utetheisa sumatrana imago | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Erebidae |
| Subfamily: | Arctiinae |
| Subtribe: | Callimorphina |
| Genus: | Utetheisa Hübner, [1819] |
| Type species | |
| Phalaena ornatrix | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Description
editPalpi porrect (extending forward), extending beyond the frons. Antennae ciliated. Forewings long and narrow, where the outer margin is short and somewhat erect. Vein 3 from before angle of cell. Veins 4 and 5 from angle, vein 6 from upper angle and vein 7 to 10 from a short areole. Hindwing with vein 5 from above angle of cell. Vein 6 and 7 from upper angle and vein 8 from middle of cell.[1]
Caterpillars of many Utetheisa species feed on Crotalaria (rattlebox), and hence the genus as a whole is often called rattlebox moths. The adults usually have bright aposematic coloration[2] and contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are used as a chemical defense and are also incorporated into the sex pheromones of the males.[3]
Taxonomy
editThe members of its subgenera Pitasila, Atasca, and Raanya were formerly included in Nyctemera. Utetheisa is placed in the tribe Callimorphina or in the Nyctemerina; some treatments merge the two subtribes.[4][5]
Utetheisa is monophyletic.[3]
Selected species
editSpecies of Utetheisa include:[6]
Subgenus Utetheisa
- Utetheisa amhara Jordan, 1939
- Utetheisa antennata Swinhoe, 1893
- Utetheisa clareae Robinson, 1971
- Utetheisa connerorum Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2009
- Utetheisa cruentata (Butler, 1881)
- Utetheisa devriesi Hayes, 1975
- Utetheisa diva (Mabille, 1879)
- Utetheisa elata (Fabricius, 1798)
- Utetheisa elata fatela Jordan, 1939
- Utetheisa elata fatua Heyn, 1906
- Utetheisa galapagensis (Wallengren, 1860)
- Utetheisa henrii Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2009
- Utetheisa lactea (Butler, 1884)
- Utetheisa lactea aldabrensis T. B. Fletcher, 1910
- Utetheisa lotrix (Cramer, [1777]) – crotalaria moth
- Utetheisa maddisoni Robinson & Robinson, 1980
- Utetheisa ornatrix (Linnaeus, 1758) – ornate moth, bella moth
- Utetheisa pectinata
- Utetheisa perryi Hayes, 1975
- Utetheisa pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758) – crimson-speckled flunkey
- Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson, 1907 – heliotrope moth (syn: Utetheisa dorsifumata Prout, 1920)
- Utetheisa salomonis
- Utetheisa semara Moore, 1860
- Utetheisa sumatrana Rothschild, 1910
Subgenus Atasca
- Utetheisa aegrotum (Swinhoe, 1892)
- Utetheisa albilinea De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa amboina De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa amosa (Swinhoe, 1903)
- Utetheisa ampatica De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa aruensis De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa bouruana (Swinhoe, 1917)
- Utetheisa ceramensis De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa externa (Swinhoe, 1917)
- Utetheisa frosti (Prout, 1918)
- Utetheisa pellex (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Utetheisa separata (Walker, 1864)
- Utetheisa watubela De Vos, 2007
Subgenus Raanya
- Utetheisa albipuncta (Druce, 1888)
- Utetheisa albipuncta zoilides (Prout, 1920)
Subgenus Pitasila
- Utetheisa assamica De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa abraxoides (Walker, 1862)
- Utetheisa balinensis De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa disrupta (Butler, 1887)
- Utetheisa disrupta burica (Holland, 1900)
- Utetheisa distincta (Swinhoe, 1903) (syn: Utetheisa sangira (Swinhoe, 1903))
- Utetheisa inconstans (Butler, 1880) (syn: Utetheisa okinawensis (Inoue, 1982))
- Utetheisa flavothoracica De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa fractifascia (Wileman, 1911)
- Utetheisa guttulosa (Walker, 1864)
- Utetheisa latifascia (Hopffer, 1874)
- Utetheisa leucospilota (Moore, 1877)
- Utetheisa limbata (Roepke, 1949)
- Utetheisa mendax De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa nivea De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa pala (Röber, 1891)
- Utetheisa selecta (Walker, 1854)
- Utetheisa specularis (Walker, 1856) (syn: Utetheisa macklotti (Vollenhoven, 1863))
- Utetheisa specularis extendens De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa specularis oroya (Swinhoe, 1903)
- Utetheisa timorensis (Roepke, 1954)
- Utetheisa transiens (Jurriaanse & Lindemans, 1919)
- Utetheisa vandenberghi (Nieuwenhuis, 1948)
- Utetheisa varians (Walker, 1854)
- Utetheisa variolosa (Felder & Rogenhofer, [1869] 1874)
- Utetheisa vollenhovii (Snellen, 1890)
- Utetheisa witti De Vos, 2007
- Utetheisa ypsilon De Vos, 2007
References
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Utetheisa.
- ^ Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Garrett, Sarah E.; Conner, William E.; Roque Albelo, Lázaro (December 2008). "Alkaloidal protection of Utetheisa galapagensis (Lepidoptera:Arctiidae )against an invertebrate and a vertebrate predator in the Galapagos Islands" (PDF). Galapagos Research. 65: 2–6. hdl:1834/35974.
- ^ a b DaCosta, M. A. (2010). "Phylogeny of Utetheisa s. str. (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae:Arctinae) with comments on the evolution of colour, hind wing scales and origin of New World species". Invertebrate Systematics. 24 (2): 113–130. doi:10.1071/IS08006.
- ^ De Vos, R. (2007). "The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae)". Aldrovandia. 3: 31–120.
- ^ De Vos, R. and V. V. Dubatolov. (2010). Nyctemerini. In: Dubatolov, V. V. Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 65, 11–18.
- ^ Savela, Markku. "Utetheisa Hübner, [1819]". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
Further reading
edit- Jordan, K., 1939: On the constancy and variability of the differences between the Old World species of Utetheisa (Lepid.; Arctiidae). Novitates Zoologicae 41: 251–291, London and Aylesbury.
- Perrott, D. C., [1967] 1966: Records of the arctiid genus Utetheisa in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 3 (5): 3–4.
- Robinson, G. S., 1971: The genus Utetheisa Hübner in Fiji with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 83 (5): 123–130.
- Robinson, G. & H. S. Robinson, 1974: Notes on the genus Utetheisa Hübner (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) in the Western Pacific with larval descriptions. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 86 (5–6): 160–163.
- Robinson, G. & H. S. Robinson., 1979-1980: Further observations on the species of Utetheisa Hübner (Lep.: Arctiidae) in the Western and Central Pacific, with the description of a new species from Niue Island. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 91 (10): 270–273; 91 (11–12): 319–322, pl. 9; 92 (1): 13-16.
- Roepke, W., 1941: On the Javanese species of the genus Utetheisa Hb. (Lep. Het., fam. Arctiidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 84: 1–9, 4 figs., Amsterdam.