Sundowner moth | |
---|---|
in Sri Lanka | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Erebidae |
Genus: | Sphingomorpha |
Species: | S. chlorea |
Binomial name | |
Sphingomorpha chlorea (Cramer, 1777) | |
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. [1] The fruit is pierced while performing a vertical and rhythmic movement of the head. [2]
Its wingspan is about 60–84 mm. Head ochreous white, the basal joint of palpi dark brown. Thorax dark brown above with a broad ochreous-white stripe on vertex. Abdomen dark brown above, with a series of dorsal ochreous-white spots. Forewings reddish-brown with dark stria. There is a pale patch at base of inner margin and an indistinct antemedial angulate line. An irregularly waved medial line with pale outer edge and sometimes tinged with purple and rufous. Some vinous patches beyond it. Reniform is a narrow lunule with a vinous dash beyond it. There is a crenulate postmedial line found with medial black lunules on it and one towards inner margin, and joined by a crenulate line from near apex. A marginal black specks series also present. Hindwings are fuscous brown where the base and a diffused medial irregular band are pale. An ochreous patch with black striæ on it at center of outer margin. Cilia pale. Ventral side pale with fuscous submarginal band towards inner margin of each wing. [3]
The adults are attracted to fermented fruit and alcoholic drinks. Its larval food plants include Acacia karoo , Thespesia garckeana , Newtonia buchananii , Sclerocarya birrea , Acacia xanthophloea , Acacia hirtella , Sclerocarya afra , Burkea africana , Acacia tortilis , Citrus , Malus pumila , Pisum sativum , Thespesia . [4] [5]
Sphingomorpha is a genus of moths of the family Erebidae first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. Some species, such as Sphingomorpha chlorea, are notorious pests in orchards, and are known as fruitsucking or fruit-piercing moths.
Hulodes caranea is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by Pieter Cramer in 1780. It is found from India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Java, Hong Kong to Queensland and New Guinea, it is also found on the Marianas and Carolines.
Mesapamea secalis, the common rustic, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe, north-west Africa, Turkey and northern Iran.
Arcte coerula, the ramie moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from in south-east Asia, including Fiji, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Japan, New Guinea, Taiwan and Norfolk Island. It has been recently observed in Hawaii, on the island of Maui.
Ercheia cyllaria is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by Pieter Cramer in 1779. It is found in the Indian subregion, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan, Indochina, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Seram and the Kai Islands.
Eudocima salaminia, the green fruit-piercing moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. It is found from India, and across south-east Asia to the Pacific Islands. In Australia it occurs in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. The adult is a fruit piercer.
Ischyja manlia is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Pieter Cramer in 1776. It is found in the Indian subregion, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Okinawa, Sundaland, Sulawesi, Korea, the southern Moluccas, Australia (Queensland) and Palau.
Oraesia emarginata is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. It is found in Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea and Nepal as well as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, the Gambia, Uganda, Oman and Yemen.
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.
Maliattha signifera is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Francis Walker in 1858. It is found in south-east Asia, including China, India, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand as well as in Australia (Queensland).
Rhesala moestalis is a species of moth of the family Erebidae 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. and in South and South-East Asia.
Serrodes partita, the catapult moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is found in western, eastern, central, and southern Africa, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
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.
Scopula fibulata is a moth of the family Geometridae first described by Achille Guenée in 1858. It is found in Kenya, Sri Lanka and China.
Phazaca theclata is a moth of the family Uraniidae. It was first described by Achille Guenée in 1858. It is known from Africa south of the Sahara, from Saudi Arabia, as well as from India, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Racotis boarmiaria is a species of moth of the family Geometridae described by Achille Guenée in 1857. It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Bhutan and Malaysia.
Hypopyra vespertilio is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787. It is found in China, Korea, Honshu in Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.
Spirama indenta is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by George Hampson in 1891. It is found from the Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya and from Sri Lanka to Java in Indonesia. In older texts, the species was classified as a morph of Spirama retorta.
Bertula abjudicalis is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Francis Walker in 1859. It is found in India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan and from Sri Lanka to Australia, where it has been recorded from New South Wales.
Ebbepterote is a monotypic moth genus in the family Eupterotidae. It was erected by Rolf G. Oberprieler, Wolfgang A. Nässig and Edward David Edwards in 2003. Its only species, Ebbepterote expansa, was described by Thomas Pennington Lucas in 1891. It is found in Australia, where it has been recorded from Queensland.