''Nepita'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

genus in the subfamily

Arctiinae The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species.Scoble, MJ. (1995). ''The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and D ...

erected by

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

in 1860. Its only species, ''Nepita conferta'', the footman moth, was first described by Francis Walker in 1854. It is found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Description

Palpi porrect (extending forward), extending beyond the frons, and fringed with hair below. Antennae roughly scaled. Tibia with long spurs. Forewings are broad and short. Veins 3 to 5 from close to angle of cell and vein 6 from below upper angle. Veins 7 to 9 stalked and vein 11 anastomosing with vein 12. Hindwings with stalked vein 4 and 5 and 6 and 7. From 8 from beyond middle of cell. Male antennae bipectinate with short branches. Head and thorax orange, where thorax with black spots. Abdomen black, orange below and at extremity. Forewings orange with some black marks at base. Antemedial and medial bands are curved and waved, which coalesce at median vein. There is a black spot on discocellulars. The post medial band is waved and excurved round end of cell. A series of submarginal spots and streaks present, often conjoined into a band. Margin and cilia are black. Hindwings have orange base, and a broad marginal black band. The spots and streaks differ in each region of the moth survives, where the ''limbata'' and ''ochracea'' forms have narrow bands on forewings. Forms ''conferta'', ''aegrota'', ''anila'' has broad bands on forewings. ''fusca'' from Sri Lanka is brown suffused. These differences gave earlier division of the species into many binomials. Larva purplish black and short, swollen in shape. Each somite thickly covered with long black hair tufts. First, seventh and anal somites possess dorsal orange marks. There is a slender line runs from the seventh to the anal somite. File:NepitaConferta Caterpillar.jpg, caterpillar File:Nepita conferta moth.jpg,

Ecology

They are often found in wet, moist habitats and larva mostly feed on mosses and lichen. The larva was recorded as a minor pest of

brinjal Eggplant ( US, CA, AU, PH), aubergine ( UK, IE, NZ), brinjal ( IN, SG, MY, ZA, SLE), or baigan ( IN, GY) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit, typic ...

. They were observed as hosts of ''

Glyptapanteles ''Glyptapanteles'' is a genus of endoparasitoid wasps found in all continents, except Antarctica. The larvae of ''Glyptapanteles'' species are able to manipulate their hosts into serving as bodyguards. Reproduction Female ''Glyptapanteles'' ov ...

'' species of

parasitoid wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran Superfamily (zoology), superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, ...

s. It is highly adaptable to domestic conditions, caterpillars are found on moist walls in rainy seasons, sometimes in large numbers.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar , from=Q18609859 , from2=Q6995262 Monotypic moth genera Moths of Asia Arctiinae