''Amerila'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
s in the subfamily
Arctiinae
The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species.Scoble, MJ. (1995). ''The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and D ...
. A number of species in this genus have a special defence mechanism when they are in their adult stage. When disturbed, they exude a frothy yellow fluid from glands beside the eyes, while making a sizzling noise to ward off their attacker. Similar behaviour has been observed in fertilised females of the North-American moth ''
Utetheisa ornatrix
''Utetheisa ornatrix'', also called the bella moth, ornate moth or rattlebox moth is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It is aposematically colored ranging from pink, red, orange and yellow to white coloration with black markings arranged in va ...
''.
The genus is placed in a monotypic tribe Amerilini, described by Vladimir Viktorovitch Dubatolov in 2010. They are sometimes (e.g. in the "
Erebidae" scheme) incorrectly merged into the
Phaegopterini, but morphologically the tribe is related to
Callimorphini. The elder name Rhodogastriini
Kiriakoff, 1950 was based on incorrectly determined genus ''
Rhodogastria
''Rhodogastria'' is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae from South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastlin ...
'' (=''Amerila'' in modern sense).
Species
* ''
Amerila abdominalis''
(Rothschild, 1933)
* ''
Amerila accra''
(Strand, 1919)
* ''
Amerila affinis''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila alberti''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila albivitrea''
(Hampson, 1901)
* ''
Amerila aldabrensis''
(Fryer, 1912)
* ''
Amerila androfusca''
(Pinhey, 1952)
* ''
Amerila arthusbertrand''
(Guérin-Méneville, 1830)
* ''
Amerila astreus''
(Drury, 1773)
* ''
Amerila bauri''
(Möschler, 1884)
* ''
Amerila bipartita''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila brunnea''
(Hampson, 1901)
* ''
Amerila bubo''
(Walker, 1855)
* ''
Amerila castanea''
(Hampson, 1911)
* ''
Amerila catinca''
Häuser et Boppre, 1997
* ''
Amerila cynira''
(Muller, 1980), ''nomen nudum''
* ''
Amerila crokeri''
(MacLeay, 1826)
* ''
Amerila curta''
(Rothschild, 1917)
* ''
Amerila erythropus''
(Rothschild, 1917)
* ''
Amerila eugenia''
(Fabricius, 1794)
* ''
Amerila femina''
(Berio, 1935)
* ''
Amerila fennia''
(Druce, 1887)
* ''
Amerila fumida''
(Swinhoe, 1901)
* ''
Amerila fuscivena''
(Hampson, 1916)
* ''
Amerila howardi''
(Pinhey, 1955)
* ''
Amerila kiellandi''
Häuser et Boppre, 1997
* ''
Amerila kuehni''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila lactea''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila leucoptera''
(Hampson, 1901)
* ''
Amerila lineolata''
(Kiriakoff, 1954)
* ''
Amerila lucida''
(Muller, 1980), ''nomen nudum''
* ''
Amerila lupia''
(Druce, 1887)
* ''
Amerila luteibarba''
(Hampson, 1901)
* ''
Amerila madagascariensis''
(Boisduval, 1847)
* ''
Amerila magnifica''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila makadara''
Häuser et Boppre, 1997
* ''
Amerila mulleri''
Häuser et Boppre, 1997
* ''
Amerila myrrha''
(Muller, 1980), ''nomen nudum''
* ''
Amerila nigrivenosa''
(Grünberg, 1910)
* ''
Amerila nigroapicalis''
(Aurivillius, 1900)
* ''
Amerila nigropunctata''
(Bethune-Baker, 1908)
* ''
Amerila niveivitrea''
(Bartel, 1903)
* ''
Amerila omissa''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila phaedra''
Weymer, 1892
* ''
Amerila piepersii''
Snellen, 1879
* ''
Amerila puella''
(Fabricius, 794
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Year 794 ( DCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 794 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...
* ''
Amerila rhodopa''
Walker, 1865
* ''
Amerila roseomarginata''
(Rothschild, 1910)
* ''
Amerila rubripes''
Walker, 1865
* ''
Amerila rufifemur''
(Walker, 1855)
* ''
Amerila rufitarsis''
(Rothschild, 1917)
* ''
Amerila serica''
Meyrick, 1886
* ''
Amerila shimbaensis''
Häuser et Boppre, 1997
* ''
Amerila simillima''
(Rothschild, 1917)
* ''
Amerila syntomina''
(Butler, 1878)
* ''
Amerila thermochroa''
(Hampson, 1916)
* ''
Amerila timolis''
(Rothschild, 1914)
* ''
Amerila vidua''
(Cramer, 1780)
* ''
Amerila vitrea''
Plötz, 1880
Incorrectly placed species
* ''
Amerila atrivena''
Hampson, 1907 (in ''
Dubatolovia'',
Spilosomini
The Spilosomina are a subtribe of tiger moths in the tribe Arctiini, which is part of the family Erebidae.
Taxonomy
The subtribe was previously classified as the tribe Spilosomini of the family Arctiidae.
Genera
The following genera are inclu ...
)
* ''
Amerila hersilia''
Druce, 1887 (in ''
Caryatis'',
Nyctemerini)
* ''
Amerila phileta''
(Drury, 1782) (in ''
Caryatis'',
Nyctemerini)
* ''
Amerila stenoperas''
Hampson, 1910 (in ''
Caryatis'',
Nyctemerini)
Note
''
Caryatis'' species are not morphologically related to ''Amerila''.
References
* , 2009: Reviewing the African tiger-moth genera: 1. A new genus, two new subgenera and a species list from the expedition to Malawi by V. Kovtunovich & P. Ustjuzhanin in 2008-2009, with further taxonomic notes on South African Arctiinae. ''Atalanta'' 40 (1-2): 285-301.
* , 2010: Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) (Nyctemerini by ). ''Neue Entomologische Nachrichten'' 65: 1-106, Marktleuthen.
* , 1995: The Afrotropical Tiger-Moths. An illustrated catalogue, with generic diagnosis and species distribution, of the Afrotropical Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae): 1-55, Apollo Books Aps.: Stenstrup, Denmark.
* , 1996: Arctiidae: 278-286, 368-370. ''In'': ''Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera'' 4: xiv+529, CSIRO: Melbourne.
* , 1997: A revision of the Afrotropical taxa of the genus ''Amerila'' Walker (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). ''Systematic Entomology'' 22 (1): 1-44.
* , 1989: A Generic Classification of the Subfamily Arctiinae of the Palaearctic and Oriental Regions based on the Male and Female Genitalia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) Part I. ''Tyô to Ga'' 38 (3): 153-237. Abstract and full article
External links
Natural History Museum Lepidoptera generic names catalog
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1312538, from2=Q4745783
Amerilini
Noctuoidea genera