Nagiella is a genus of moths in the species-rich subfamily Spilomelinae of the family Crambidae.
Distribution The six species of Nagiella are distributed in East and Southeast Asia as well as the Indian subcontinent.
Larval foodplants The caterpillars of Nagiella inferior have been recorded on Coffea liberica in the Rubiaceae family, while Rhus chinensis (Anacardiaceae) has been reported as larval foodplant for N. quadrimaculalis.
Species Nagiella bispina Lu & Du, 2020 Nagiella hortulatoides Munroe, 1976 Nagiella inferior (Hampson, 1899) (= synonym Botys quadrimaculalis Motschultsky, 1861) Nagiella occultalis Ullah & Yang in Ullah, Yang, Qiao & Zhang, 2017 Nagiella quadrimaculalis (Kollar & Redtenbacher, 1844) (= synonym Nagia desmialis Walker, 1866) Nagiella tristalis Matsui & Naka in Matsui, Naka & Jinbo, 2021
Nomenclature & systematics Nagiella was established by Eugene G. Munroe in 1976 as a replacement name for Nagia Walker, 1866, a name that was preoccupied by Nagia Walker, 1858 in the Lepidoptera family Erebidae. The type species, Nagia desmialis Walker, 1865, is now considered a synonym of Nagiella quadrimaculalis (Kollar & Redtenbacher, 1844), which was described earlier and therefore has priority over the younger name. The name quadrimaculalis Motschultsky, 1861 (published in the genus Botys) is a secondary homonym of the previously published name quadrimaculalis Kollar & Redtenbach, 1844 (published in Scopula), and therefore the name inferior Hampson, 1899 (in the genus Sylepta, a misspelling of Syllepte) was proposed as objective replacement name.
In the past, the genus was considered a synonym of Pleuroptya, until in 2017 a taxonomic revision showed that Nagiella is distinct from Pleuroptya, thus reinstating it as a valid genus.
Nagiella is placed in the tribe Agroterini of the subfamily Spilomelinae.
References
Natural History Museum Lepidoptera genus database