''Cabera'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 in the family

Geometridae The geometer moths are 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, paraphyleti ...

described by

Georg Friedrich Treitschke Georg Friedrich Treitschke (; 29 August 1776 – 4 June 1842) was a German librettist, translator and lepidopterist. In 1800, he came to the Vienna Hofoper. From 1809 to 1814, he was principal of the Viennese Theater an der Wien. He wrote mo ...

in 1825.

Description

These moths are widely distributed in the

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

Neotropic The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

and

Afrotropic The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

regions, and a few in Indo-Australian regions. However, it is absent in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

itself. In the afrotropical region, 12 species have been recorded, though their placement in ''Cabera'' remains uncertain due to their variable physical characteristics. Among these is a

monophyletic group In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

, ''Cabera subalba'' group, which is distinct on the basis of its uniform appearance. Some species were originally classified under ''

Petelia Petilia or Petelia () was a city name found in some ancient works of classical antiquity. It's widely accepted that in antiquity there were two cities with this name, both located in Southern Italy. One of them, Petilia, was located in ancient Lu ...

'' and '' Gyalomia'' due to striking similarities.

Selected species

This genus presently includes 30 species. In alphabetical order: * ''

Cabera aquaemontana ''Cabera'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae Species description, described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1825. Description These moths are widely distributed in the Palearctic realm, Palaearctic, Nearctic realm, Nearctic, Neotr ...

'' (Prout, 1913) * ''

Cabera borealis ''Cabera'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1825. Description These moths are widely distributed in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Neotropic and Afrotropic regions, and a few in Indo-Austra ...

'' (Hulst, 1896) – boreal cream * '' Cabera candidaria'' (Leech, 1897) * '' Cabera elarina'' (Prout, 1913) * '' Cabera erythemaria'' (Guenée, 1857) – yellow-dusted cream * ''

Cabera exanthemata The common wave (''Cabera exanthemata'') is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was Species description, first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1763 ''Entomologia Carniolica''. It is found throughout the Palearctic region an ...

'' (Scopoli, 1763) – common wave * '' Cabera griseolimbata'' (Oberthür, 1879) * ''

Cabera humbloti ''Cabera humbloti'' is a species of Geometer moth, geometrid moth, Endemism, endemic to the Comoros archipelago, specifically the Grande Comore, Grand Comoro. It belongs to the Monophyletic group, monophylectic Cabera subalba group, ''Cabera subal ...

'' (Herbulot, 1978) * '' Cabera leptographa'' (Wehrli, 1939) * '' Cabera limbata'' (Herbulot, 1954) * ''

Cabera nathaliae ''Cabera nathaliae'' is a species of geometrid moth, endemic to Sundi on Principe Island. It is housed in the Zoologische Staatssammlung München. It belongs to the monophyletic ''Cabera Subalba Group''. Description ''Cabera nathaliae'' is a ...

'' (Herbulot, 1991) * '' Cabera neodora'' (Prout, 1922) * ''

Cabera nevillei ''Cabera nevillei'' is a species of geometrid moth endemic to Zimbabwe. It belongs to the monophylectic ''Cabera subalba'' Group. Etymology The species is named after Neville J. Duke. Description ''Cabera nevillei'' is a medium-sized '' ...

'' * '' Cabera pseudognophos'' (Prout, 1917) * '' Cabera purus'' (Butler, 1878) * ''

Cabera pusaria The common white wave (''Cabera pusaria'') is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found throughout the Palearctic region. Their habitat is dec ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – common white wave * '' Cabera quadrifasciaria'' (Packard, 1873) – four-lined cream * '' Cabera schaefferi'' (Bremer, 1864) * '' Cabera strigata'' (Warren, 1897) * ''

Cabera sulbaba ''Cabera'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1825. Description These moths are widely distributed in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Neotropic and Afrotropic regions, and a few in Indo-Austra ...

'' (Warren, 1901) * '' Cabera toulgoeti'' (Herbulot, 1957) * '' Cabera variolaria'' (Guenée, 1857) – the vestal

Etymology

Treitschke, a German

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the two superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, the r ...

, raised the genus in 1825; ''Cabera'' refers to

Cabeiro In Greek mythology, Cabeiro (or Kabeiro) was a sea nymph who lived on the island of Lemnos. She was a daughter of the shape-shifting marine god Proteus. After being thrown out of Mount Olympus, the Greek forge god Hephaestus fathered three sons k ...

, who was the daughter of

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus ( ; ) is an early prophetic sea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (''hálios gérôn''). Some who ascribe a specific domain to Prote ...

″the

prophetic In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divin ...

old man of the sea who kept changing his shape to avoid being caught and having to make prophesies″.

References

* Caberini Geometridae genera {{Caberini-stub