''Tantulius'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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 w ...

genus of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a 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 underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. Its only species, ''Tantulius belli'', is known from southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Both the genus and the species were first described by Michael Fibiger in 2010. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is about 8 mm. The head, patagia, anterior part of the tegulae, prothorax, basal part of the costa, costal part of the medial area and fringes are blackish brown. The costal medial area is quadrangular. The forewing is short and relatively broad. The ground colour is yellow, while the terminal area is brown, suffused with a few black scales. The antemedial and postmedial line is well marked, narrow and light brown. The terminal line is indistinct and indicated by a few brown interneural dots. The hindwing is grey, without a discal spot. The underside of the forewing is light brown, while the underside of the hindwing is light grey.

References

* Micronoctuini Moths described in 2010 Monotypic moth genera {{Micronoctuini-stub