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Asota (moth)

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Asota
Asota speciosa, South Africa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Subfamily: Aganainae
Genus: Asota
Hübner, 1819
Synonyms
  • Aganais
  • Antichera
  • Aspa
  • Damalis
  • Euimata
  • Hypsa
  • Lacides
  • Petalia
  • Psephea
  • Pseudhypsa

Asota is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1819. Species are widely distributed throughout Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Malayan region and tropical parts of the Australian region.

Description

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Palpi upturned, where the second joint reaching the vertex of the head and the third joint is slender in variable lengths. Antennae fasciculated (bundled) in males and ciliated (hairy) in females. Forewings with vein 5 from the lower angle of cell or just above it. Vein 6 from the upper angle or below it. Areole absent. Hindwings with vein 5 from just above lower angle of cell. Veins 6 and 7 from the upper angle.[1]

Taxonomy

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The genus was formerly placed in the families Noctuidae and Arctiidae by some authors. Other authors placed them in the family Aganaidae or Hypsidae. Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that the Aganainae are most closely related to the Herminiinae (litter moths), and this pair of subfamilies is most closely related to the Arctiinae (tiger and lichen moths), all within the family Erebidae.[2][3]

Species

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Asota ficus, probable female
Asota kinabaluensis

References

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  1. ^ Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.100745 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  2. ^ Zahiri, Reza; et al. (2011). "Molecular phylogenetics of Erebidae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea)". Systematic Entomology. 37: 102–124. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00607.x. S2CID 84249695.
  3. ^ Lafontaine, Donald; Schmidt, Christian (19 Mar 2010). "Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico". ZooKeys (40): 26. doi:10.3897/zookeys.40.414.