Pseudohemihyalea is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae described by Régo Barros in 1956. While the caterpillars of most species of Pseudohemihyalea feed on broad-leaved trees (e.g. oaks, Quercus), the P. ambigua group has larvae that feed on conifers. Their forewing coloration has accordingly evolved to light-and-dark lengthwise striping, giving better camouflage among the slim needles of the host plants. In this, they seem to be convergent to certain geometer moths, such as Caripeta piniata or Sabulodes niveostriata.
Taxonomy The genus was long included in Hemihyalea when the latter was still unresolved versus Amastus, but seems to be distinct and in fact contain more species than originally believed. The initial confusion stems partly from the fact that Régo Barros when describing the genus set the type species to be Phaegoptera rhoda, but he had actually misidentified Pseudohemihyalea schausi specimens as P. rhoda.Schmidt (2009)
The additional species were usually considered a group of the genus Aemilia, but this was long realized to be awkward and possibly wrong. Since then, a variety of data has been found to suggest the red-banded aemilia ("Aemilia" ambigua) and its closest relatives correctly belong in Pseudohemihyalea. However, the genus is still in need of definite revision, as at least one species is incorrectly placed here.
Selected species Species of Pseudohemihyalea include:
Pseudohemihyalea ambigua (Strecker, 1878) – red-banded aemilia Pseudohemihyalea anaisabelsanabriae Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea anapheoides (Rothschild, 1909) Pseudohemihyalea annario (Dyar, 1914) Pseudohemihyalea bosullivani Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea carmen (Schaus, 1920) Pseudohemihyalea carteronae (Toulgoët, 1982) Pseudohemihyalea carteronae (Toulgoët, 1982) Pseudohemihyalea celsicola (Toulgoët, 1982) Pseudohemihyalea daraba (Druce, 1894) Pseudohemihyalea debilis (Rothschild, 1916) Pseudohemihyalea despaignei (Toulgoët, 1982) Pseudohemihyalea donharveyi Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea edwardsii (Packard, 1864) – Edwards' glassy-wing Pseudohemihyalea eugeniephillipsae Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea euornithia (Dyar, 1914) Pseudohemihyalea fallaciosa (Toulgoët, 1997) Pseudohemihyalea fuscenscens (Rothschild, 1909) Pseudohemihyalea hampsoni (Joicey & Talbot, 1916) Pseudohemihyalea inexpectata (Toulgoët, 1999) Pseudohemihyalea johnbrowni Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea klagesi (Rothschild, 1909) Pseudohemihyalea labecula (Grote, 1881) – freckled glassy-wing Pseudohemihyalea labeculoides (Toulgoët, 1995) Pseudohemihyalea ludwigi (Beutelspacher, 1984) Pseudohemihyalea mansueta (H. Edwards, 1884) Pseudohemihyalea marcepsteini Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea melas (Dognin, 1902) Pseudohemihyalea montywoodi Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea nimbipicta (Dyar, 1914) Pseudohemihyalea ochracea (Rothschild, 1909) Pseudohemihyalea porioni (Toulgoët, 1995) Pseudohemihyalea potosi (Schmidt, 2009) Pseudohemihyalea rexhamiltoni Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea rhoda (Druce, 1894) Pseudohemihyalea schausi (Rothschild, 1935) Pseudohemihyalea sonorosa (Schmidt, 2009) Pseudohemihyalea splendens (Barnes & McDunnough, 1910) Pseudohemihyalea syracosia (Druce, 1889) Pseudohemihyalea testacea (Rothschild, 1909) Pseudohemihyalea toulgoëti Espinoza, 2026 Pseudohemihyalea utica (Druce, 1897)
Laguerre, M., Espinoza, B., Hallwachs, W., Janzen, D. 2026. Revision of the Pseudohemihyalea species from Costa Rica (Erebidae Arctiinae Arctiini Phaegopterina) with description of new taxa, as well as redescription and delimitation of species previously described in the genus and present in the country. Faunitaxys 14 (51): 1-37 https://doi.org/10.57800/faunitaxys-14(51)
Footnotes
References
(2009): Revision of the "Aemilia" ambigua (Strecker) species-group (Noctuidae, Arctiinae). ZooKeys 9: 63–78. PDF fulltext
External links