''Hypocala deflorata'' is a

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 ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. It was first described by

Johan Christian Fabricius Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1794. It is widespread from

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to Africa and to

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 ...

and many

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islands. Records include

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Rotuma Rotuma () is a self-governing heptarchy, generally designated a Local government in Fiji, dependency of Fiji. Rotuma commonly refers to the Rotuma Island, the only permanently inhabited and by far the largest of all the islands in the Rotuma Gro ...

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Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

and

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Description

Full-grown larvae are about 45 mm. The pupa is about 22 mm in length and is medium dark brown. In the adult, the head, thorax and forewings are pale violaceous grey. Hindwings with large orange area. Marginal black area reduced and the two orange spots conjoined. Ventral side black on forewing reduced to two bars, and that on hindwing also much reduced.

Ecology

The larvae feed on '' Diospyros pallens'', '' Diospyros villosa'', '' Diospyros dichrophylla'', '' Diospyros lycioides'', '' Maba sandwicensis'', ''

Royena ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark timb ...

'' and ''

Sapota ''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, chicozapote, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, nispero, or soapapple, among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. An example natural occurrence is ...

'' species.

Subspecies

*''Hypocala deflorata deflorata'' *''Hypocala deflorata australiae'' (Queensland, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Rotuma, Fiji, Samoa, Norfolk Island, New Zealand)

References

External links

* Hypocalinae Insects of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Insects of West Africa Insects of Uganda Moths of Asia Moths of Japan Insects of Tanzania Moths of New Zealand Moths of Africa Moths described in 1794 {{Hypocalinae-stub