Pitthea famula

Pitthea famula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Subfamily:	Ennominae
Genus:	Pitthea
Species:	P. famula
Binomial name
Pitthea famula (Drury, 1773)
Synonyms
Phalaena famula Drury, 1773 Nyctemera decisa Walker, 1869 Nyctemera expandens Walker, 1854

Pitthea famula is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. It was first described by Dru Drury in 1773 from Calabar, in what is now Nigeria. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko), Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia.^[1]

Description

Upper side: antennae long and pectinated. Thorax spiral. Neck orange-coloured. Thorax and abdomen dusky grey. Anterior wings about half way from the tips black, but at the base are of a pellucid white; being surrounded along the anterior edge and part of the posterior with black; an oblong white spot is placed near the tips on the black part. Posterior wings black and white; the white entirely surrounded by the black, which on the anterior and abdominal edges is very narrow.

Under side: palpi orange-coloured, black at the tips. Neck, breast, and sides orange. Feet black. Thighs white. Abdomen white, annulated with dusky grey. Anterior wings as on the upper side, the black parts being of a russet hue. Posterior wings differ a little, the white part running down to the middle of the external edges, with a white spot at the upper corners. Margins of the wings entire.

Wing-span 2 inches (50 mm).^[2]

References