''Castniomera'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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 ...

genus in the family

Castniidae Castniidae, or castniid moths, is a small family of moths with fewer than 200 species: The majority are Neotropical with some in Australia and a few in south-east Asia. These are medium-sized to very large moths, usually with drab, cryptically-ma ...

described by

Constant Vincent Houlbert Constant Vincent Houlbert (18 July 1857 in Voutré en Mayenne – 22 December 1947 in Rennes) was a French entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. He was a conservator at the Museum in Rennes and later Professor in th ...

in 1918. Its single species, ''Castniomera atymnius'', the giant butterfly-moth, was first described by

Johan Wilhelm Dalman Johan Wilhelm Dalman (November 4, 1787 in Hinseberg, Västmanland – July 11, 1828 in Stockholm) was a Swedish physician and a naturalist. He first studied at Christiansfeld in Schleswig-Holstein then at the University of Lund and the Univ ...

in 1824. It is known from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

through

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The larvae feed on

Musaceae Musaceae is a family of flowering plants composed of three genera with about 91 known species, placed in the order Zingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves ...

species.

Subspecies

*''Castniomera atymnius atymnius'' (eastern Brazil, French Guiana, Colombia) *''Castniomera atymnius drucei'' (Schaus, 1911) (Colombia, Costa Rica) *''Castniomera atymnius ecuadorensis'' (Houlbert, 1917) (Ecuador) *''Castniomera atymnius futilis'' (Walker, 1856) (Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Panama) *''Castniomera atymnius humboldti'' (Boisduval, 875 (Colombia) *''Castniomera atymnius immaculata'' (Lathy, 1922) (French Guiana) *''Castniomera atymnius newmanni'' (Houlbert, 1917) (Panama to Colombia, Venezuela)

References

Castniidae Castniidae of South America Moths of South America {{Castniidae-stub