''Cabera limbata'' is a species of

geometrid The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek (derivative form of or "the earth"), and "measure" in referen ...

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 ...

s, found in

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. It belongs to the

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

Cabera subalba group The ''Cabera subalba'' group is a monophyletic group under the genus '' Cabera.'' These moths are widely distributed in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Neotropic and Afrotropic regions, and a few in Indo-Australian regions. However, the group is abs ...

.''

Taxonomy

This moth was previously named ''Thysanopyga limbata'' (Herbulot, 1954)''.'' It was also referred to as ''Cabera limbala'' in some instances (Scoble, 1999: 98).

Description

''Cabera limbata'' is a medium-sized '' Cabera'' species. The length of the

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwi ...

is , and is broad and pointed. The

hindwing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindw ...

resembles the forewing, but with a shorter point at

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving ...

angle. The upperside closely resembles that of '' Cabera toulgoeti'' from

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. However, it differs on the basis of having smaller discal spots and a darker underside terminal color. It is the only other moth, except ''

Cabera subalba ''Cabera subalba'' is a species of geometrid moth, found on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe in West Africa. It belongs to the monophylectic ''Cabera subalba'' Group. Taxonomy This moth was originally described as ''Thysanopyga subal ...

,'' that has a single cornutus (spine-like structure) in the vesica. To differentiate between these two species, variations in the valvae and soccii lobes are considered, as they are much broader and larger in ''C. subalba,'' respectively. In some cases, differentiation is also done by coloration, as it is paler than ''C. subalba,'' resulting in the striations appearing bolder.

Appearance

Adults feature weakly defined lines along the forewings, along with a median line which is relatively broader. It is undulating and runs just before the discal spot. Forewings contain fine darker grey striations than ground brown colour. Discal spots on the forewing and black, while the ones on hindwing are nearly invisible due to their

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

ous coloration. The underside of the wings is significantly lighter than the upperside, which features a contrasting and well developed darker violet-grey terminal shade along the edges, gradually darkening slightly towards the hindwing. The

cilia The cilium (: cilia; ; in Medieval Latin and in anatomy, ''cilium'') is a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea.) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike proj ...

and body vestiture are consistent in color with the wings.

Male genitalia

Adults are distinguished by a lengthy, acutely pointed, and setose

uncus The uncus is an anterior extremity of the parahippocampal gyrus. It is separated from the apex of the temporal lobe by a sulcus called the rhinal sulcus. Although superficially continuous with the hippocampal gyrus, the uncus forms morphol ...

, a hook-like structure at the terminal end. The soccii lobes are also setose and prominent, arising from the basal region of uncus. Its

genital capsule A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

is wide and elliptical, with its 9th

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

segment, or vinculum, having a notable median suture. It has a well developed transtilla (band of connective tissue at the base of valvae), with the pair of valvae being broad at their basal two-thirds, featuring a deep indentation ( sacculus) that gradually narrows sharply towards the

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

margin of the valvae is swollen from the center, and has a middle group of

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e. The apical margin, whereas, contains multiple groups of stout setae. The inseminating organ, the aedaegus, is short and spindle-shaped. The sheath surrounding it or the vesica, contains a single nail-like cornutus at its tip.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13447174 Moths of Africa Caberini Moths described in 1954