''Asota speciosa'', the specious tiger, formerly ''Aganais speciosa'', is a

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 ...

of the subfamily

Aganainae The Aganainae are a small subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. The adults and caterpillars of this subfamily are typically large and brightly colored, like the related tiger moths. Many of the caterpillars feed on poisonous host plants an ...

, now regarded as being within 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'') ...

. Formerly it was regarded variously as a member of the

Arctiidae 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 ...

, the Hypsidae, and subsequently the family Aganaidae, which was formerly regarded as a family by some authorities. The species is widespread in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, such as in Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mozambique and South Africa. The larvae feed on certain latex-rich plants, mainly ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...

'' species (fig trees), both indigenous and domestic, but also on poisonous '' Acokanthera'' species. They sabotage the latex defences of their host plants by biting partway through the

midrib This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

, severing the latex vessels before proceeding to feed on the portion of the

leaf blade A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

distal to the sabotage, which is no longer supplied with latex.COMPTON, S.G. 1987. Aganais speciosa and Danaus chrysippus (Lepidoptera) sabotage the latex defences of their host plants. Ecological Entomology 12: 115-118

References

{{Aganainae-stub Asota (moth) Moths of Africa Moths described in 1773 Taxa named by Dru Drury