''Lacera alope'', the toothed drab, 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

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'') ...

. The species was first described by

Pieter Cramer Pieter Cramer (21 May 1721 (baptized) – 28 September 1776), was a wealthy Dutch merchant in linen and Spanish wool, remembered as an entomologist. Cramer was the director of the Zealand Society, a scientific society located in Flushing, and a mem ...

in 1780. It is found in Africa, where it is known from southern and eastern Africa, including several islands of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, and southern Asia from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Description

Its wingspan is about 48–64 mm. Body dark reddish brown slightly irrorated with grey. Forewings with traces of sub-basal line. A curved slightly dentate antemedial black line and an obscure reniform spot with an indistinct figure-of-8-shaped mark above it. A very irregularly dentate postmedial line excurved beyond the cell present. There is a pale mark with black streaks on the veins in the sinus and a pale mark on it can be seen above inner margin. The outer area variegated with pale brown and fuscous. Hindwings with indistinct wave postmedial line and a marginal dark line with some blue-grey specks found on it. Ventral side with outer area of forewings variegated with reds and purples. A brown speckled yellow patch can be seen at apex. Larva greenish with dark dorsal stria. Somites 4 to 11 with dark specks and a sub-lateral series of similar specks present. Legs and tow dorsal prominences on 11th segment dark. Larva feeds on ''

Caesalpinia ''Caesalpinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. Historically, membership within the genus has been highly variable, with different publications including anywhere from 70 to 165 species, depending largely on the inclusion o ...

'', ''

Canthium ''Canthium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny. Distribution ''Canthium'' species are predominantly found in Southeast Asia, espec ...

'', '' Cissampelos'', ''

Macadamia ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...

'' plants.

References

External links

''African Moths'' - Distribution map for Africa and pictures of ''Lacera alope''
Moths described in 1780 Moths of Asia Moths of Réunion Moths of Africa Lacera {{Hulodini-stub