''Speiredonia'' 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

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

Jacob Hübner Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist. He was the author of ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge'' (1796–1805), a founding work of entomology. Scientific career Hübner was the author of '' ...

in 1823.

Description

Palpi with thickened second joint, reaching vertex of head and third joint of moderate length. Antennae of male with minute fascicules of cilia. Thorax quadrately scaled. Abdomen with dorsal ridges of hair. Tibia slightly hairy, and mid-tibia spineless. Forewings with arched costa towards apex. Cilia crenulate. Hindwings with crenulate cilia as well, but with short cell. Vein 5 from lower angle of cell.

Defensive display

Some of the species, such as '' Speiredonia spectans'', '' S. cthulhui'', '' S. hogenesi'', '' S. martabanica'', '' S. sandokana'', '' S. alix''. '' S. itynx'', '' S. levis'' and '' S. celebensis'' have a pattern on the wings that while the moth is at rest looks like the

3-dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position of a point. Most commonly, it is the three-dim ...

face of a lurking animal with eyes and nostrils. This pattern is more clearly discernible in females and may cause an attacking predator to hesitate or perhaps withdraw.John L. Capinera, ''Encyclopedia of Entomology'', Volume 4, p. 1174

Species

* '' Speiredonia alix'' (Guenée, 1852) * '' Speiredonia celebensis'' Hogenes & Zilli, 2005 * '' Speiredonia cthulhui'' Zilli & Holloway, 2005 * '' Speiredonia cymosema'' (Hampson, 1926) * '' Speiredonia darwiniana'' Zilli, 2010 * '' Speiredonia gowa'' Holloway & Zilli, 2005 * '' Speiredonia hogenesi'' Zilli, 2002 * '' Speiredonia ibanorum'' Holloway & Zilli, 2005 * '' Speiredonia inocellata'' Sugi, 1996 * '' Speiredonia itynx'' Fabricius, 1787 * '' Speiredonia levis'' Holloway & Zilli, 2005 * '' Speiredonia martabanica'' Holloway & Zilli, 2005 * '' Speiredonia mutabilis'' Fabricius, 1794 * '' Speiredonia obscura'' (Cramer, 1780) * '' Speiredonia sandokana'' Zilli & Holloway, 2005 * '' Speiredonia simplex'' Butler, 1877 * '' Speiredonia spectans'' (Guenée, 1852) – granny's cloak moth * '' Speiredonia strigiformis'' (Robinson, 1975) * '' Speiredonia substruens'' (Walker, 1858)

References

External links

* * * * Hulodini Moth genera {{Hulodini-stub