Cometaster pyrula
| Faint owl moth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Erebidae |
| Subfamily: | Erebinae |
| Tribe: | Hypopyrini |
| Genus: | Cometaster |
| Species: | C. pyrula |
| Binomial name | |
| Cometaster pyrula (Hopffer, 1857)[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Cometaster pyrula, commonly known as the Faint owl moth or Ying-yang moth, is a species of moth of the Erebidae family. It is monotypic in its genus and endemic to Africa.[2]
Distribution
It is found in Eastern and Southern Africa, mainly in Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[3]
Biological control agent
In October 2004, and as part of a biological control project, larvae of this moth from South Africa were released in Queensland, Australia, in order to keep under control the type of acacia Acacia nilotica subsp. indica, a major invasive species in the Mitchell Grass Downs.[4]
References
- ↑ African Moths; Cometaster pyrula, (Hopffer, 1857)
- ↑ "Genus details: Cometaster". Lepidoptera genus database. Natural History Museum. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ↑ African Moths; Cometaster pyrula, (Hopffer, 1857)
- ↑ Rangaswamy Muniappan, Gadi V. P. Reddy & Anantanarayanan Raman (eds.), Biological Control of Tropical Weeds Using Arthropods, Cambridge University Press 2009, pg. 26
External links
Media related to Cometaster pyrula at Wikimedia Commons- The host range and biology of Cometaster pyrula; a biocontrol agent for Acacia nilotica subsp. indica in Australia
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