Utetheisa
| Utetheisa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Utetheisa sumatrana imago | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Erebidae |
| Subfamily: | Arctiinae |
| Tribe: | Arctiini |
| Subtribe: | Callimorphina |
| Genus: | Utetheisa Hübner, [1819] |
| Type species | |
| Phalaena ornatrix Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Utetheisa is a genus of tiger moths in the Erebidae family.
Description
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[1] and contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are used as a chemical defense and are also incorporated into the sex pheromones of the males.[2]
Taxonomy
The 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.[3][4]
Utetheisa is monophyletic.[2]
Selected species
Species of Utetheisa include:[5]
Subgenus Utetheisa
- Utetheisa amhara Jordan, 1939
- Utetheisa antennata Swinhoe, 1893
- Utetheisa clareae Robinson, 1971
- Utetheisa connerorum
- 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
- Utetheisa henrii
- Utetheisa lactea (Butler, 1884)
- Utetheisa lactea aldabrensis Fletcher, 1910
- Utetheisa lotrix – Crotalaria Moth
- Utetheisa maddisoni Robinson & Robinson, 1980
- Utetheisa ornatrix – Ornate Moth, Bella Moth
- Utetheisa pectinata
- Utetheisa perryi Hayes, 1975
- Utetheisa pulchella – Crimson-speckled Flunkey
- Utetheisa pulchelloides – 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)
Heliotrope Moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides)
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 et 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
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- ↑ Garrett, S. E., et al. (2008). Alkaloidal protection of Utetheisa galapagensis (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) against an invertebrate and a vertebrate predator in the Galápagos Islands. Galápagos Research 65 2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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), 113-30.
- ↑ de Vos, R. (2007). The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Aldrovandia. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Zoologia di Roma 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, M. Utetheisa Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. 2011.
Further reading
- 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. N.Z.Entomol. 3 (5): 3-4.
- Robinson, G. S., 1971: The genus Utetheisa Hübner in Fiji with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Entomol. Rec. & J. 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. Entomol. Rec. & J. 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. Entom. Rec. & J. 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.