The Maltese ruby tiger moth (''Phragmatobia fuliginosa melitensis'') is a subspecies of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

Maltese Islands Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was first described by

Otto Bang-Haas Otto Bang-Haas (20 January 1882, Dresden – 30 July 1948, Dresden) was a German entomologist and insect dealer. His collection of microlepidoptera is in the National Museum of Denmark and of Coleoptera in the Natural History Museum of Giacomo Dori ...

in 1927. It belongs to 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 ...

General features

This moth, known as the ''rubin''Wildlife of the Maltese Islands, BirdLife Malta and Nature Trust, 1995"''Phragmatobia fuliginosa melitensis'' O. Bang-Haas, 1927"
''Fauna and Funghi of Malta''. Retrieved September 27, 2019. in

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

, has a wingspan of 30–35 mm. Its head and body are hairy; head and

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the ...

reddish brown;

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the tors ...

red with black spots; wings

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...

;

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 hin ...

reddish brown with black

reniform Reniform is an adjective meaning "kidney-shaped" and may specifically refer to: * Reniform leaf, a plant leaf shape * Reniform stigma, a spot on the wings of certain moths * Reniform habit In mineralogy, crystal habit is the characteristic ext ...

spot;

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 hi ...

bright pink with black discal spot and uneven black spotting along outer margin. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

looks rather furry, a feature common in

caterpillars, which are known as "woolly bears".

Food

The caterpillar feeds on

borage Borage ( or ; ''Borago officinalis''), also known as starflower, is an annual herb in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region, and has naturalized in many other locales. It grows satisfactorily in gard ...

(''Borago officinalis'') (known as ''fidloqqom'' in Maltese), and on bugloss (plants from the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Echium ''Echium'' is a genus of approximately 70 species and several subspecies of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. Species of ''Echium'' are native to North Africa, mainland Europe to Central Asia, and the Macaronesian islands wher ...

'' e.g. pale bugloss (''

Echium italicum ''Echium italicum'', the Italian viper's bugloss, Lady Campbell weed,John H. Wiersema and Blanca León or pale bugloss, is a species of plant from the family Boraginaceae, found in the Mediterranean Basin (especially in Italy, hence the name 'i ...

'') which is known as ''lsien il-fart abjad'' in Maltese).

Population

The Maltese ruby tiger moth, although endemic, is common throughout the Maltese Islands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6744804 Spilosomina Fauna of Malta Moths of Europe Endemic fauna of Malta Subspecies

General features

Food

Population

See also

References