| Palaephatus pallidus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Palaephatidae |
| Genus: | Palaephatus |
| Species: | P. pallidus |
| Binomial name | |
| Palaephatus pallidus Davis, 1986 | |
Palaephatus pallidus is a moth of the family Palaephatidae. It was described by Donald R. Davis in 1986. It is found in the southern temperature forest of Chile and the adjacent Andean frontier of Argentina.
Moths comprise a group of insects related to butterflies, belonging to the order Lepidoptera. Most lepidopterans are moths, and there are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
Palaephatoidea is a superfamily of insects in the order Lepidoptera with a single family, Palaephatidae with seven known genera. These "Gondwanaland moths" exhibit a disjunct distribution occurring mainly in South America, with four species in eastern Australia and Tasmania and one in South Africa. The larvae spin together leaves of Proteaceae (Ptyssoptera) or Verbenaceae (Azaleodes) . Palaephatoidea, a typical monotrysian group, is one two main candidates as the sister group of most of the Lepidoptera, the Ditrysia.
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.
The length of the forewings is 9–12 mm for males and 11–12 mm for females. Adults have pale whitish buff forewings variously mottled by small brownish fuscous spots and a large oblique medial fascia. They are on wing from December to March in one generation per year. [1]