Utetheisa

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 Edit this 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
  • Atasca Swinhoe, 1892
  • Deiopeia Curtis, 1827
  • Deiopeia Stephens, 1829 (non Curtis, 1827: preoccupied)
  • Exitelica Turner, 1921
  • Pitasila Moore, 1877
  • Raanya De Vos, 2007
  • Utethesia (lapsus)
  • Uthetheisa (lapsus)

Description

Palpi 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

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.[4][5]

Utetheisa is monophyletic.[3]

Utetheisa
Utetheisa pulchelloides

Selected species

Species of Utetheisa include:[6]

Subgenus Utetheisa

Subgenus Atasca

Subgenus Raanya

Heliotrope moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides)

Subgenus Pitasila

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Utetheisa.
  1. Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. De Vos, R. (2007). "The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae)". Aldrovandia. 3: 31–120.
  5. 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.
  6. Savela, Markku. "Utetheisa Hübner, [1819]". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved April 1, 2018.

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. 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.
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