| Ategumia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Adult male of Ategumia adipalis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Crambidae |
| Subfamily: | Spilomelinae |
| Tribe: | Nomophilini |
| Genus: | Ategumia Amsel, 1956 [1] |
Ategumia is a genus of moths in the species-rich subfamily Spilomelinae of the family Crambidae.
Although the majority of species (including the type species A. matutinalis ) placed in this genus are distributed in the Americas, three species are described from the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, namely A. adipalis , A. fatualis and A. geographicalis . [1]
The caterpillars of Ategumia are, as far as known, herbivores. Known hostplants are all in the Melastomataceae family: Melastoma malabathricum , M. "deficidum" (a misspelling of decemfidum?, which is a synonym of Melastoma sanguineum var. sanguineum [2] ), Miconia crenata and M. umbellata . [3] [4] Ategumia adipalis , A. ebulealis and A. fatualis were introduced to Hawaii for biological pest control to tackle Melastomataceae plants that have become invasive there. [3]