''Spirama retorta'', the Indian owlet-moth, 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
Carl Alexander Clerck
Carl Alexander Clerck (1709 – 22 July 1765) was a Sweden, Swedish entomologist and arachnology, arachnologist.
Clerck came from a family in the petty Swedish nobility, nobility and entered the University of Uppsala in 1726. Little is known of hi ...
in 1764. It is found in China (Tibet, Qinghai, Jiangsu, Fukien, Yunnan), Korea, Japan (Honshu), India (Sikkim, West Bengal), Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines (Luzon), Indonesia (
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
,
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
),Japan (
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
).
Description
The wingspan of the male is about 64–76 mm and 66-88 in female. The pattern on the wings often looks like the face of a snake with slightly opened mouth. Forewings with arched costa towards apex, which is nearly rectangular. Male with a fold on inner area of hindwing, containing an erectile ridge of very long hair. Antennae fasciculate. Male has dark chestnut-brown colored head and collar. Thorax paler with dark bands. Abdomen crimson with triangular black dorsal patches. Wings fuscous brown. Forewing with the costal and outer area more or less suffused with purplish and sometimes with an olive tinge. An antemedial line curved outwards below costa, and then oblique to inner margin. There is a large "inverted-comma" mark beyond end of cell, with ochreous and black edges and some white on inner edge of "tail", the center fuscous-black. A postmedial curved line passing round the stigma or interrupted by it. Another postmedial line excurved below costa and slightly sinuous. Two crenulate sub-marginal line and two more prominent lines can be found within the margin. Hindwings with indistinct antemedial, medial, and traces of two postmedial and a sub-marginal line. Ventral side is suffused with dull red and having two medial lines and single postmedial to each wing.
Female basically ochreous colored. Forewings with larger stigma than male. Hindwings with prominent markings. Two antemedial lines and an ochreous submarginal line can be seen along with two crenulate black lines inside the margin. Ventral side orange-scarlet colored, each wing with cell-spot, medial, postmedial and submarginal lines and series of lunules inside the margin.
The caterpillars are known to feed on ''
Acacia mangium
''Acacia mangium'' is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to northeastern Queensland in Australia, the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, Papua, and the eastern Maluku Islands. Common names include black w ...
'', which was investigated from
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...
. Predators like ''
Sycanus leucomesus'', ''
Cantheconidea furcellata'', ''
Mallada basalis'', and ''
Vespa affinis
''Vespa affinis'', the lesser banded hornet, is a common hornet in tropical and subtropical Asia.
Description
The lesser banded hornet is a small to medium-sized hornet, with queens reaching up to 30mm, males 26mm and workers averaging 22 to 25 ...
'' are observed to feed on the caterpillars. Caterpillars also feed on ''
Acacia auriculiformis'', ''
Acacia crassicarpa
''Acacia crassicarpa'' (northern wattle, thick-podded salwood, brown salwood, Papua New Guinea red wattle, red wattle; syn. ''Racosperma crassicarpum'' (A.Cunn. ex Benth.) Pedley.) is a tree native to Australia (Queensland), West Papua (Indones ...
'', and ''
Falcataria moluccana
''Falcataria falcata'' (syns. ''Albizia falcata'', ''Falcataria moluccana'' and ''Paraserianthes falcataria''), commonly known as the Moluccan albizia, is a species of fast-growing tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the Maluku Islands, ...
''.
See also
*
Deception in animals§Deimatic displays
References
External links
Effect of ivermectin on larval mortality and reproductive potential of ''Albizia'' foliage feeder, ''Spirama retorta'' Cramer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)Spinosad toxicity induced larval mortality in ''Albizia'' foliage feeder, ''Spirama retorta'' CramerGrowth performance of foliage feeder, ''Spirama retorta''
Moths described in 1764
Moths of Asia
Moths of Japan
Spirama
Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck
{{Erebinae-stub