''Tathorhynchus'' 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

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'') ...

erected by

George Hampson Sir George Francis Hampson, 10th Baronet (14 January 1860 – 15 October 1936) was an English entomologist. Hampson studied at Charterhouse School and Exeter College, Oxford. He travelled to India to become a tea-planter in the Nilgiri Hills o ...

in 1894. Its only species, ''Tathorhynchus exsiccata'', the Levant blackneck or double-spotted snout, was first described by Julius Lederer in 1855. The nominate form is found on the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

and in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, tropical Asia and tropical Africa. It has been introduced in

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Subspecies ''Tathorhynchus exsiccata fallax'' is found in the northern half of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, as well as

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Taxonomy

This species was transferred to ''Lygephila exsiccata'' by Goater et al. in 2003, but was returned to ''Tathorhynchus'' Hampson by Fibiger and Hacker in 2005.

Technical description and variation

''T. exsiccata'' Led. (= ''vinctalis'' Walk.) Forewing whitish, thickly suffused with grey brown, darker towards termen; the orbicular and reniform stigmata marked by pale spots separated by a black dash; another beyond reniform; outer line pale preceded by black marks; a terminal row of black lunules; hindwing greyish white, darker terminally. 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 40 mm.

Subspecies

*''Tathorhynchus exsiccata exsiccata'' *''Tathorhynchus exsiccata fallax''

Biology

The larvae of the nominate form feed on ''

Indigofera tinctoria ''Indigofera tinctoria'', also called true indigo, is a species of plant from the bean family that was one of the original sources of indigo dye. Description True indigo is a shrub one to two meters high. It may be an annual plant, annual, bi ...

'', ''

Medicago sativa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as we ...

'' and ''

Spartium junceum ''Spartium junceum'', known as Spanish broom, rush broom, or weaver's broom, it is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and the sole species in the genus ''Spartium''. It is closely related to the other brooms (in the genera '' Cy ...

''. The larvae of ''Tathorhynchus exsiccata fallax'' probably feed on ''

''.

References

External links

*
"08938 ''Tathorhynchus exsiccata'' (Lederer, 1855)"
''Lepiforum e. V.'' Retrieved May 20, 2020. * Toxocampinae Moths of Europe Moths of North America Moths of Cape Verde Moths of Africa Moths of New Zealand Moths of the Middle East Moths described in 1855 Taxa named by Julius Lederer Monotypic moth genera {{Toxocampinae-stub