''Prothysana terminalis'' 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 ...

in the family

Apatelodidae Apatelodidae, the American silkworm moths, is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera. They are a family within the superfamily Bombycoidea, though they have in the past been considered a subfamily of Bombycidae. Distribution Species are e ...

whose larvae are known as shag-carpet caterpillars. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1865. It is found in South America.

Taxonomy

Vitor Osmar Becker included ''Compsa saturata'' and ''Mimallo trilunula'' as synonyms of ''Prothysana terminalis'' in 2001, but excluded ''

Prothysana felderi ''Prothysana felderi'' is a moth in the family Apatelodidae, whose larvae are known as shag-carpet caterpillars. It is found from Mexico, south to Panama and into South America, at least to Ecuador. Taxonomy Vitor Osmar Becker included ''Compsa ...

'' from this synonymy, retaining it as a separate species.Becker, V.O. (2001). "The identity of some unrecognized Neotropical Bombycoidea (Lepidoptera) described by Francis Walker". ''Revista Brasileira de Zoologia''. 18: 153-157. As of Kitching 2018, genus '' Prothysana'' is placed in family

Biology

Recorded food plants for the two species of ''Prothysana'' (which cannot be distinguished from one another) include '' Philodendron'', ''

Heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the we ...

'', '' Welfia georgii'', '' Chamaedora tepejilote'', '' Piptocarpha poeppigiana'', ''

Pentaclethra macroloba ''Pentaclethra macroloba'' is a large and common leguminous tree in the genus ''Pentaclethra'' native to the wet tropical areas of the northern Neotropics, which can form monoculture, monocultural stands in some seasonally flooded habitats. It ha ...

'', '' Stigmaphyllon lindinianum'', '' Piper colonense'', '' Piper hispidum'', '' Piper auretum'', '' Piper peltata'', '' Neea psychotroides'', '' Lycianthes synanthera'', '' Heliocarpus appendiculatus'', '' Miriocarpa longipes'' and '' Aegifila falcata''.

References

Apatelodidae Moths described in 1865 Taxa named by Francis Walker (entomologist) Moths of South America {{Bombycoidea-stub