''Asota kinabaluensis'' is a species of noctuoid moth in the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

first described by

Walter Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was present ...

in 1896. It appears to have no close relatives in the genus ''

Asota Asota is a town near Shewa Adda and Union Councils of Pakistan, Union Council of Swabi District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°14'0N 72°21'0E with an altitude of 340 metres (1118 feet). R ...

''.

Characteristics

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 62–64 mm. The

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwin ...

pattern is very distinctive with the patchy, very dark brownish-gray and white colors. The

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

segments have complete black rings. The male antennae are the most strongly bipectinate in the ''Asota'' genus. The

aedeagus An aedeagus (plural aedeagi) is a reproductive organ of male arthropods through which they secrete sperm from the testes during copulation with a female. It can be thought of as the insect equivalent of a mammal's penis, though the comparison ...

vesica bears a massive tuft of numerous fine spines.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. The first specimens were collected from

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( ms, Gunung Kinabalu, Dusun language, Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu'') is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is List of islands by highest point, third-highest peak of an island on Eart ...

after which the species was named. ''A. kinabaluensis'' prefers upper

montane forests Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

, but can be found also in hill forests ranging from 1000 to 2600 m.

External links

* *Zwier, Jaap
"''Asota kinabaluensis'' Rothschild 1896"
''Aganainae (Snouted Tigers)''. Retrieved August 5, 2019. Moths of Borneo Aganainae Moths described in 1896 {{Aganainae-stub