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Utetheisa

{{Short description|Genus of moths}}

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{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Utetheisa_sumatrana_-_NZ.pgn.png

| image_caption = Utetheisa sumatrana imago

| taxon = Utetheisa

| authority = Hübner, [1819]

| type_species = Phalaena ornatrix

| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

| synonyms =

  • Atasca Swinhoe, 1892
  • Deiopeia Curtis, 1827
  • Deiopeia Stephens, 1829 (non Curtis, 1827: preoccupied)
  • Exitelica Turner, 1921
  • Pitasila Moore, 1877
  • Raanya De Vos, 2007
  • Utethesia (lapsus)
  • Uthetheisa (lapsus)

}}

Utetheisa is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae. The genus was first described by Jacob Hübner 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.{{cite book |last=Hampson |first=G. F. |author-link=George Hampson |date=1894 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/180400#page/5/mode/1up |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II |publisher=Taylor and Francis |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}

Caterpillars of many Utetheisa species feed on Crotalaria (rattlebox), and hence the genus as a whole is often called rattlebox moths. The adults usually have bright aposematic coloration{{cite journal |last1=Garrett |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Conner |first2=William E. |last3=Roque Albelo |first3=Lázaro |title=Alkaloidal protection of Utetheisa galapagensis (Lepidoptera:Arctiidae )against an invertebrate and a vertebrate predator in the Galapagos Islands |journal=Galapagos Research |date=December 2008 |volume=65 |pages=2–6 |url=http://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/media/pdf/65/GR_65_2008_Garrett_et_al_Utetheisa_galapagensis.pdf |hdl=1834/35974 }} and contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are used as a chemical defense and are also incorporated into the sex pheromones of the males.{{cite journal |last1=DaCosta |first1=M. A. |title=Phylogeny of Utetheisa s. str. (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae:Arctinae) with comments on the evolution of colour, hind wing scales and origin of New World species |journal=Invertebrate Systematics |date=2010 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=113–130 |doi=10.1071/IS08006 |url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=IS08006 }}

Taxonomy

The members of its subgenera Pitasila, Atasca, and Raanya were formerly included in Nyctemera. Utetheisa is placed in the tribe Callimorphina or in the Nyctemerina; some treatments merge the two subtribes.{{cite journal |last1=De Vos |first1=R. |year=2007 |title=The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) |journal=Aldrovandia |volume=3 |pages=31–120 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254898623 }}De Vos, R. and V. V. Dubatolov. (2010). Nyctemerini. In: Dubatolov, V. V. Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 65, 11–18.

Utetheisa is monophyletic.

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File:Utetheisa byRivuGayen.png

Selected species

Species of Utetheisa include:{{cite web |last=Savela |first=Markku |url=http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/arctiidae/arctiinae/utetheisa/ |title=Utetheisa Hübner, [1819] |website=Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms |access-date=April 1, 2018}}

Subgenus Utetheisa

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Subgenus Atasca

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Subgenus Raanya

File:Utetheisa pulchelloides 5.jpg (Utetheisa pulchelloides)]]

Subgenus Pitasila

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References

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Further reading

  • {{aut|Jordan, K.}}, 1939: On the constancy and variability of the differences between the Old World species of Utetheisa (Lepid.; Arctiidae). Novitates Zoologicae 41: 251–291, London and Aylesbury.
  • {{aut|Perrott, D. C.}}, [1967] 1966: Records of the arctiid genus Utetheisa in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 3 (5): 3–4.
  • {{aut|Robinson, G. S.}}, 1971: The genus Utetheisa Hübner in Fiji with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 83 (5): 123–130.
  • {{aut|Robinson, G. & H. S. Robinson}}, 1974: Notes on the genus Utetheisa Hübner (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) in the Western Pacific with larval descriptions. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 86 (5–6): 160–163.
  • {{aut|Robinson, G. & H. S. Robinson.}}, 1979-1980: Further observations on the species of Utetheisa Hübner (Lep.: Arctiidae) in the Western and Central Pacific, with the description of a new species from Niue Island. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 91 (10): 270–273; 91 (11–12): 319–322, pl. 9; 92 (1): 13-16.
  • {{aut|Roepke, W.}}, 1941: On the Javanese species of the genus Utetheisa Hb. (Lep. Het., fam. Arctiidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 84: 1–9, 4 figs., Amsterdam.

{{Taxonbar |from=Q15103228}}

Category:Arctiinae

Category:Moth genera

Category:Taxa named by Jacob Hübner