Hellinsia ''Hellinsia'' is a genus of moths in the family Pterophoridae. It was created by J.W. Tutt in honour of the entomologist John Hellins. Species The genus contains the following species: *'' Hellinsia acuminatus'' (Meyrick, 1920) *'' Hellinsia a ...

alfaroi'' 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 family

Pterophoridae The Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblag ...

. It is found in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. 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 17 mm. The forewings are pale brown-ochreous and the markings are dark brown. The hindwings are dark grey-brown, ochreous tinged in the basal part of the third lobe. The fringes are dark grey-brown. Adults are on wing in April, at an altitude of 1,100 meters.

Etymology

The species is named after

Eloy Alfaro José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (25 June 1842 – 28 January 1912) often referred to as "The Old Warrior," was an Ecuadorian politician who served as the President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. Eloy Alfaro emerged as the leader ...

, president of Ecuador, who was assassinated in 1912.

References

Moths described in 2011 alfaroi Moths of South America {{Oidaematophorini-stub