| Creatonotos gangis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Arctiidae |
| Genus: | Creatonotos |
| Species: | C. gangis |
| Binomial name | |
| Creatonotos gangis (Linnaeus, 1763) |
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| Synonyms [1] | |
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Creatonotos gangis is a species of arctiid moth found in South East Asia and Australia.
Contents |
Adults have white hindwings, and brown forewings, each with a dark streak, and a wingspan of 40 millimetres (1.6 in).[1] The abdomen is red or, more rarely, yellow.[1] The eggs are yellow and round, and are laid in rows on the leaves of food plants. The caterpillars are brown, hairy animals with a yellow stripe along the back, with a polyphagous diet.[1]
Creatonotos gangis lives in South East Asia and parts of Australia.[2] Its Asian distribution includes parts of China, India, Japan, Thailand and New Guinea.[1] In Australia, it is restricted to northern parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, extending as far south as Mackay.[3]
Adult males secrete the pheromone hydroxydanaidal in order to attract mates. The amount produced, and the size of the coremata (scent organs) which produce it, are however dependent on the diet that the moth experienced as a caterpillar. If the larval diet contained pyrrolizidine alkaloids, then the coremata become large and the male will release up to 400 micrograms (0.0062 gr) of hydroxydanaidal, but if it does not, then the coremata do not grow large and no scent is produced.[4]
The larvae of C. gangis can cause extensive damage to the foliage of pomegranate trees.[2]