Utetheisa

Utetheisa
Utetheisa sumatrana imago
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Tribe:	Arctiini
Subtribe:	Callimorphina
Genus:	Utetheisa Hübner, [1819]
Type species
Phalaena ornatrix Linnaeus, 1758
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)

Utetheisa is a genus of tiger moths in the Erebidae family.

Description

Palpi porrect, extending beyond the frons. Antennae ciliated. Fore wings long and narrow, where the outer margin 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. Hind wing 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]

Selected species

Species of Utetheisa include:^[6]

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

1. Hampson G. F. (1892). "The Fauna Of British India Including Ceylon And Burma Moths Vol-ii". Digital Library of India. p. 558. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
2. 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.
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), 113-30.
4. 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.
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, 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.