__NOTOC__ ''Utetheisa'' 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 ...

tiger moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

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 ...

. The genus 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 1819.

Description

Palpi porrect (extending forward), extending beyond the frons. Antennae ciliated. Forewings long and narrow, where the outer margin is short and somewhat erect. Vein 3 from before angle of cell. Veins 4 and 5 from angle, vein 6 from upper angle and vein 7 to 10 from a short areole. Hindwing with vein 5 from above angle of cell. Vein 6 and 7 from upper angle and vein 8 from middle of cell.

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

s of many ''Utetheisa'' species feed on ''

Crotalaria ''Crotalaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Fabaceae (subfamily Faboideae) commonly known as rattlepods. The genus includes over 700 species of herbaceous plants and shrubs. Africa is the continent with the major ...

'' (rattlebox), and hence the genus as a whole is often called rattlebox moths. The adults usually have bright

aposematic Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the pr ...

coloration and contain toxic

pyrrolizidine alkaloid Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), sometimes referred to as necine bases, are a group of naturally occurring alkaloids based on the structure of pyrrolizidine. Their use dates back centuries and is intertwined with the discovery, understanding, and e ...

s, which are used as a chemical defense and are also incorporated into the

sex pheromone Sex pheromones are pheromones released by an organism to attract an individual of the same species, encourage them to mate with them, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction. Sex pheromones specifically focus on ind ...

s of the males.

Taxonomy

The members of its

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Pitasila'', ''Atasca'', and ''Raanya'' were formerly included in ''

Nyctemera ''Nyctemera'' is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1820. The genus includes the species ''Nyctemera annulata'' and '' Nyctemera amica'', which are closely related and are able to interbreed. Descr ...

''. ''Utetheisa'' is placed in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Callimorphina The Callimorphina are a subtribe of woolly bear moths in the family Erebidae. The subtribe was described by Francis Walker in 1865. Many of these moths are easily confused with butterflies, being quite brightly colored and somewhat diurnal. Th ...

or in the

Nyctemerina The Nyctemerina are a subtribe of woolly bear moths in the family Erebidae. Taxonomy The subtribe was previously classified as the tribe Nyctemerini of the former family Arctiidae. Some authors merge the subtribe into the related Callimorphina. ...

; some treatments merge the two subtribes. ''Utetheisa'' is

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

Selected species

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of ''Utetheisa'' include: Subgenus ''Utetheisa'' * ''

Utetheisa amhara ''Utetheisa amhara'' is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Karl Jordan in 1939. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Em ...

'' Jordan, 1939 * ''

Utetheisa antennata ''Utetheisa antennata'' is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Charles Swinhoe Colonel Charles Swinhoe (27 August 1838 in CalcuttaAlthough many published sources give 1836, the India Office Records note it as 1838 (), the other y ...

'' Swinhoe, 1893 * '' Utetheisa clareae'' Robinson, 1971 * ''

Utetheisa connerorum ''Utetheisa connerorum'' is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is endemic to the Galapagos archipelago, where it is the most widespread of all ''Utetheisa'' species. It has been found on Baltra, Fernandina, Floreana, Genovesa, Isabela, Marchena, ...

'' Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2009 * ''

Utetheisa cruentata ''Utetheisa cruentata'' is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1881. It is found on Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The larvae feed on ''Tournefortia argentea ''Heliotropium arboreum'' is a species of f ...

'' (Butler, 1881) * ''

Utetheisa devriesi ''Utetheisa devriesi'' is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Alan H. Hayes in 1975. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located aro ...

'' Hayes, 1975 * ''

Utetheisa diva ''Utetheisa diva'' is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Paul Mabille in 1879. It is found on Réunion, Madagascar and the Seychelles. References Moths described in 1879 diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Di ...

'' (Mabille, 1879) * ''

Utetheisa elata ''Utetheisa elata'' is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798. It is found in Angola, South Africa and Tanzania, as well as on the Comoros, Réunion, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The lar ...

'' (Fabricius, 1798) ** ''Utetheisa elata fatela'' Jordan, 1939 ** ''Utetheisa elata fatua'' Heyn, 1906 * ''

Utetheisa galapagensis ''Utetheisa galapagensis'' is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is known only from the Galápagos island of San Cristóbal. It is probably endemic to the archipelago. Larvae have been reared on '' Tournefortia pubescens'', but probably also fe ...

'' (Wallengren, 1860) * '' Utetheisa henrii'' Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2009 * '' Utetheisa lactea'' (Butler, 1884) ** ''Utetheisa lactea aldabrensis'' T. B. Fletcher, 1910 * '' Utetheisa lotrix'' (Cramer, 777 – crotalaria moth * '' Utetheisa maddisoni'' Robinson & Robinson, 1980 * ''

Utetheisa ornatrix ''Utetheisa ornatrix'', also called the ornate bella moth, ornate moth, bella moth or rattlebox moth, is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It is aposematically colored ranging from pink, red, orange and yellow to white coloration with black mark ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – ornate moth, bella moth * '' Utetheisa pectinata'' * '' Utetheisa perryi'' Hayes, 1975 * ''

Utetheisa pulchella ''Utetheisa pulchella'', the crimson-speckled flunkey, crimson-speckled footman, or crimson-speckled moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Subs ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – crimson-speckled flunkey * ''

Utetheisa pulchelloides ''Utetheisa pulchelloides'', the heliotrope moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in the Indo-Australian region including Borneo, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Papua, Seychelles, most of Australia,Tenerife, La Línea de la Concepción � ...

'' Hampson, 1907 – heliotrope moth (syn: ''Utetheisa dorsifumata'' Prout, 1920) * '' Utetheisa salomonis'' * '' Utetheisa semara'' Moore, 1860 * ''

Utetheisa sumatrana ''Utetheisa sumatrana'' is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Walter Rothschild in 1910. It is found on north-eastern Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully ...

'' Rothschild, 1910 Subgenus ''Atasca'' * '' Utetheisa aegrotum'' (Swinhoe, 1892) * '' Utetheisa albilinea'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa amboina'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa amosa'' (Swinhoe, 1903) * '' Utetheisa ampatica'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa aruensis'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa bouruana'' (Swinhoe, 1917) * '' Utetheisa ceramensis'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa externa'' (Swinhoe, 1917) * '' Utetheisa frosti'' (Prout, 1918) * '' Utetheisa pellex'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Utetheisa separata'' (Walker, 1864) * '' Utetheisa watubela'' De Vos, 2007 Subgenus ''Raanya'' * '' Utetheisa albipuncta'' (Druce, 1888) ** ''Utetheisa albipuncta zoilides'' (Prout, 1920) Utetheisa pulchelloides 5

Subgenus ''Pitasila'' * '' Utetheisa assamica'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa abraxoides'' (Walker, 1862) * '' Utetheisa balinensis'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa disrupta'' (Butler, 1887) ** ''Utetheisa disrupta burica'' (Holland, 1900) * '' Utetheisa distincta'' (Swinhoe, 1903) (syn: '' Utetheisa sangira'' (Swinhoe, 1903)) * '' Utetheisa inconstans'' (Butler, 1880) (syn: '' Utetheisa okinawensis'' (Inoue, 1982)) * '' Utetheisa flavothoracica'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa fractifascia'' (Wileman, 1911) * '' Utetheisa guttulosa'' (Walker, 1864) * '' Utetheisa latifascia'' (Hopffer, 1874) * '' Utetheisa leucospilota'' (Moore, 1877) * '' Utetheisa limbata'' (Roepke, 1949) * '' Utetheisa mendax'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa nivea'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa pala'' (Röber, 1891) * '' Utetheisa selecta'' (Walker, 1854) * '' Utetheisa specularis'' (Walker, 1856) (syn: '' Utetheisa macklotti'' (Vollenhoven, 1863)) ** ''Utetheisa specularis extendens'' De Vos, 2007 ** ''Utetheisa specularis oroya'' (Swinhoe, 1903) * '' Utetheisa timorensis'' (Roepke, 1954) * '' Utetheisa transiens'' (Jurriaanse & Lindemans, 1919) * '' Utetheisa vandenberghi'' (Nieuwenhuis, 1948) * '' Utetheisa varians'' (Walker, 1854) * '' Utetheisa variolosa'' (Felder & Rogenhofer,

869 __NOTOC__ Year 869 ( DCCCLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends ...

1874) * '' Utetheisa vollenhovii'' (Snellen, 1890) * '' Utetheisa witti'' De Vos, 2007 * '' Utetheisa ypsilon'' De Vos, 2007

Description

Taxonomy

Selected species

References

Further reading