Rhesala moestalis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Erebidae |
Genus: | Rhesala |
Species: | R. moestalis |
Binomial name | |
Rhesala moestalis (Walker, 1866) | |
Synonyms | |
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Rhesala moestalis is a species of moth of the family Erebidae [1] first described by Francis Walker in 1866. It is found throughout subtropical Africa, from Sierra Leone in the west to Somalia in the east and South Africa in the south. It is also found on most of the African Indian Ocean islands. [2] and in South and South-East Asia.
They have a wingspan of 14–20 mm.
The larvae feed on Fabaceae species, such as Acacia mellifera , Acacia tortilis and Albizia lebbeck . In India they have been recorded as a pest of nursery and young shade trees in tea plantations with a preference for Albizia odoratissima , Albizia procera as well as Albizia lebbeck . [3]
George Hampson described them in The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma in 1894 as follows: [4]
Dark fuscous brown with a greyish tinge; the head and collar dark red- brown. Fore wing with some dark specks on costa; waved ante- and postmedial lines, the latter excurved round cell; the orbicular and reniform large and indistinct and more or less prominently defined by hyaline lines; a dark spot at apex; a marginal series of black specks. Hind wing with a cell-spot with hyaline specks on its edges; a sinuous medial line with dark specks on it; traces of a pale submarginal lunulate line; an indistinct lunulate red-brown marginal band. Some specimens have a dark patch on disk of fore wing; others have the black-speckled medial line of hind wing double towards inner margin. Hab. W.Africa; Japan; throughout India and Ceylon. Exp. 18-24 millim.
Acherontia styx, the lesser death's head hawkmoth or bee robber, is a sphingid moth found in Asia, one of the three species of death's-head hawkmoth. It is very fond of honey, and bee keepers have reported finding dead moths in their hives as a result of bee stings. They can mimic the scent of bees so that they can enter a hive unharmed to get honey. Their tongue, which is stout and very strong, enables them to pierce the wax cells of the beehive and suck the honey out. They are also known to be a pest of yuzu in South Korea, using their tongue to pierce and damage the fruit.
Mocis undata, the brown-striped semilooper, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is found in the Afrotropical and Oriental regions, including India and Sri Lanka.
Erebus macrops, the common owl-moth, is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1768. It is found in the subtropical regions of Africa and Asia. The wingspan is about 12 cm, making it exceptionally large for an Erebidae species. The larvae feed on Acacia and Entada species.
Speiredonia mutabilis is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, from Sundaland eastwards to Australia, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga.
Oxyodes scrobiculata, the longan semi-looper or longan leaf-eating looper, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The common name "looper" is used despite looper moths generally being in the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is found in the Indo-Australian tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, east to Guam, Queensland, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Trigonodes hyppasia, the triangles or semi-looper, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1779. It is largely cosmopolitan, found throughout Borneo, Fiji, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, São Tomé and Príncipe, Taiwan, Thailand, Zimbabwe, northern Australia, and almost all African countries.
Semiothisa eleonora is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in south-west Asia, including India, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.
Ambulyx substrigilis, the dark-based gliding hawkmoth, is a species of moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by John O. Westwood in 1847.
Cyclodes omma is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found from the Oriental tropics to the Moluccas, including India, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Bali, Sumatra, Timor, Sri Lanka, Flores, Sulawesi, the Philippines, China and Taiwan.
Ericeia inangulata, the sober tabby, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found in the Indo-Australian tropics of China, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and the Marianas and Carolines, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Samoa.
Hydrillodes lentalis is a species of moth of the family Erebidae described by Achille Guenée in 1854. It is found in south-east Asia and Australia (Queensland).
Lamoria anella is a species of snout moth described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775 found in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Polydesma umbricola, the monkeypod moth or large tabby, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. The species is found in southern Europe, Africa, Asia Minor to southern Asia, of India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, the Andaman Islands, including many Indian Ocean islands, like Coëtivy Island, Aldabra, Assumption Island, Madagascar and on Hawaii.
Spirama retorta, the Indian owlet-moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1764. It is found in China, Korea, Japan (Honshu), India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines (Luzon), Indonesia ,Japan.
Plusiodonta coelonota, the snake vine moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Vincenz Kollar in 1844. It is found from India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Andaman Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, to South and South-East Asia.
Thumatha fuscescens is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Francis Walker in 1866. It is found in Australia, South-East Asia, India, Sri Lanka, the Comoros, Réunion, Madagascar, and Gabon.
Lacera alope, the toothed drab, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1780. It is found in Africa, where it is known from southern and eastern Africa, including several islands of the Indian Ocean, Saudi Arabia, and southern Asia from India, Sri Lanka to China.
Nagia linteola is a species of moth in the family Erebidae first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. This species occurs in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, the Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Indonesia (Borneo), India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and in Australia, where it has been recorded from Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria.
Acantholipes trajecta is a species of moth in the family Erebidae first described by Francis Walker in 1865. It is found in South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and Australia, where it has been recorded from Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Sphingomorpha chlorea, the sundowner moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae that is native to Africa and southern Asia. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. It is a fruit-piercing moth and a notorious pest in orchards. The fruit is pierced while performing a vertical and rhythmic movement of the head.