Utetheisa

Utetheisa
Utetheisa sumatrana imago
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Tribe:	Arctiini
Subtribe:	Callimorphina
Genus:	Utetheisa Hübner, [1819]
Type species
Phalaena ornatrix 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 Erebidae family.

Description

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^[1] and contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are used as a chemical defense and are also incorporated into the sex pheromones of the males.^[2]

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.^[3][4]

Utetheisa is monophyletic.^[2]

Selected species

Species of Utetheisa include:^[5]

Subgenus Utetheisa

• Utetheisa amhara Jordan, 1939
• Utetheisa antennata Swinhoe, 1893
• Utetheisa clareae Robinson, 1971
• Utetheisa connerorum
• Utetheisa cruentata (Butler, 1881)
• Utetheisa devriesi Hayes, 1975
• Utetheisa diva (Mabille, 1879)
• Utetheisa elata (Fabricius, 1798)
  • Utetheisa elata fatela Jordan, 1939
  • Utetheisa elata fatua Heyn, 1906
• Utetheisa galapagensis
• Utetheisa henrii
• Utetheisa lactea (Butler, 1884)
  • Utetheisa lactea aldabrensis Fletcher, 1910
• Utetheisa lotrix – Crotalaria Moth
• Utetheisa maddisoni Robinson & Robinson, 1980
• Utetheisa ornatrix – Ornate Moth, Bella Moth
• Utetheisa pectinata
• Utetheisa perryi Hayes, 1975
• Utetheisa pulchella – Crimson-speckled Flunkey
• Utetheisa pulchelloides – Heliotrope Moth (syn: Utetheisa dorsifumata Prout, 1920)
• Utetheisa salomonis
• Utetheisa semara Moore, 1860
• Utetheisa sumatrana Rothschild, 1910

Subgenus Atasca

• Utetheisa aegrotum (Swinhoe, 1892)
• Utetheisa albilinea de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa amboina de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa amosa (Swinhoe, 1903)
• Utetheisa ampatica de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa aruensis de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa bouruana (Swinhoe, 1917)
• Utetheisa ceramensis de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa externa (Swinhoe, 1917)
• Utetheisa frosti (Prout, 1918)
• Utetheisa pellex (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Utetheisa separata (Walker, 1864)
• Utetheisa watubela de Vos, 2007

Subgenus Raanya

• Utetheisa albipuncta (Druce, 1888)
  • Utetheisa albipuncta zoilides (Prout, 1920)

Heliotrope Moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides)

Subgenus Pitasila

• Utetheisa assamica de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa abraxoides (Walker, 1862)
• Utetheisa balinensis de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa disrupta (Butler, 1887)
  • Utetheisa disrupta burica (Holland, 1900)
• Utetheisa distincta (Swinhoe, 1903) (syn: Utetheisa sangira (Swinhoe, 1903))
• Utetheisa inconstans (Butler, 1880) (syn: Utetheisa okinawensis (Inoue, 1982))
• Utetheisa flavothoracica de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa fractifascia (Wileman, 1911)
• Utetheisa guttulosa (Walker, 1864)
• Utetheisa latifascia (Hopffer, 1874)
• Utetheisa leucospilota (Moore, 1877)
• Utetheisa limbata (Roepke, 1949)
• Utetheisa mendax de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa nivea de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa pala (Röber, 1891)
• Utetheisa selecta (Walker, 1854)
• Utetheisa specularis (Walker, 1856) (syn: Utetheisa macklotti (Vollenhoven, 1863))
  • Utetheisa specularis extendens de Vos, 2007
  • Utetheisa specularis oroya (Swinhoe, 1903)
• Utetheisa timorensis (Roepke, 1954)
• Utetheisa transiens (Jurriaanse et Lindemans, 1919)
• Utetheisa vandenberghi (Nieuwenhuis, 1948)
• Utetheisa varians (Walker, 1854)
• Utetheisa variolosa (Felder & Rogenhofer, [1869] 1874)
• Utetheisa vollenhovii (Snellen, 1890)
• Utetheisa witti de Vos, 2007
• Utetheisa ypsilon de Vos, 2007

References

1. Garrett, S. E., et al. (2008). Alkaloidal protection of Utetheisa galapagensis (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) against an invertebrate and a vertebrate predator in the Galápagos Islands. Galápagos Research 65 2.
2. DaCosta, M. A. (2010). Phylogeny of Utetheisa s. str.(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Arctinae) with comments on the evolution of colour, hind wing scales and origin of New World species. Invertebrate Systematics 24(2), 113-30.
3. de Vos, R. (2007). The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Aldrovandia. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Zoologia di Roma 3, 31-120.
4. 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.
5. Savela, M. Utetheisa Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. 2011.

Further reading

• 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.
• Perrott, D. C., [1967] 1966: Records of the arctiid genus Utetheisa in New Zealand. N.Z.Entomol. 3 (5): 3-4.
• Robinson, G. S., 1971: The genus Utetheisa Hübner in Fiji with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Entomol. Rec. & J. Variation 83 (5): 123-130.
• Robinson, G. & H. S. Robinson, 1974: Notes on the genus Utetheisa Hübner (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) in the Western Pacific with larval descriptions. Entomol. Rec. & J. Variation 86 (5-6): 160-163.
• 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. Entom. Rec. & J. Variation 91 (10): 270-273; 91 (11-12): 319-322, pl. 9; 92 (1): 13-16.
• 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.