''Urapteroides astheniata'' 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
Uraniidae first described by
Achille Guenée in 1857. It is found in south-east 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 ...
to
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, including
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
and the tropical north 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 ...
.
Description
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 60–76 mm. Body white. Palpi with a black line on the upperside. A black frontal line and spot found on vertex of head. Forewings with some black strigae from the costa. Six oblique fuscous bands, one sub-basal, another on discocellulars, the others medial, postmedial, sub-marginal and marginal. Some fuscous striae found on each side of the sub-marginal band. Hindwings with a fuscous band on inner margin joined at anal angle by a band from the upper angle of cell and almost met by one from the costa beyond the middle. Some submarginal striae can be seen. A black marginal line runs from the apex to the tail, and a very narrow line with three spots inside it from the tail to anal angle. Cilia black tipped.
Larva pale reddish yellow, tinged green, with reddish transverse stripes dorsally. Three comma-like greenish markings found centrally on each segment. Last
instar
An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...
s are more greenish with variable markings. Head and prothorax glossy greenish. Spiracles dark. The larvae feed on ''
Endospermum
''Endospermum'' is a genus of plants, under the family Euphorbiaceae and the monotypic subtribe Endosperminae first described as a genus in 1861 They are dioecious, rarely monoecious trees. It is native to E + S + SE Asia, Papuasia, Queensland, a ...
'' species.
References
Uraniidae
{{Geometroidea-stub