''Erebus macrops'', the common owl-moth, is a species 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 ...

of 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

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1768. It is found in the subtropical regions of Africa and Asia. 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 about 12 cm, making it exceptionally large for an

species. The larvae feed on ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' and '' Entada'' species.

Description

Its wingspan is about 134–160 mm. Male with costal half of hindwing aborted to form turned over on the upper surface and containing a large glandular patch of flocculent (woolly) hair. Vein 4 running to the functional apex, and vein 5 from center of discocellulars. Vein 6 to the fold and veins 7 and 8 very minute to near base of costa. fuscous brown, with a slight purplish tinge. Forewings with short sub-basal and waved antemedial and medial black lines. A very large fulcous ocellus found beyond end of cell, with black outline and black comma-shaped pupil with blue streaks and specks on it. Two irregularly waved postmedial lines excurved round the ocellus and bent inwards below it, the outer one expanding into a patch at costa. Two sinuous series of black sub-marginal spots, the inner series indistinct and obsolete towards costa. Hindwings with medial black line excurved round cell. A postmedial series of spots of lunules with two sinuous series of spots found beyond them, the inner series least distinct. Ventral side with irregular postmedial series of white spots and regular submarginal series of lunules to each wing.

Gallery

File:Erebus macrops, ondersy, Pretoria, a.jpg, File:Erebus macrops.jpg, File:Волосистая совка-большеглазка.jpg,

References

External links

"''Erebus macrops''"
''The Moths of Borneo''. Lepidoptera of Cameroon Lepidoptera of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lepidoptera of Uganda Moths of Asia Moths of Japan Lepidoptera of Mozambique Insects of Somalia Moths of Africa Moths described in 1768 Erebus (moth) Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Erebinae-stub