Nyctemera is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1820. The genus includes the species Nyctemera annulata and Nyctemera amica, which are closely related and are able to interbreed.
Description They are medium-sized moths, the adults having a wingspan of . The wings are usually dark with lighter patches, while the body is often aposematically coloured to discourage birds and other visual predators from eating them.
Palpi porrectly upturned. Antennae bipectinate in both sexes, where branches short in females. Forewing with vein 3 from before the angle of cell, vein 5 from above it and vein 6 from upper angle. Vein 7 and 10 from short areole which is formed by the anastomosis of veins 8 and 9. Hindwings with vein 3 from before end of cell and vein 5 from angle or from above it. Veins 6 and 7 stalked or from upper angle. Vein 8 from before middle of all.
Ecology The slow-flying moths can often be seen feeding at flowers; it is common around its preferred food plants of the daisy family, for example groundsel (and other Senecio spp.), ragworts and Cineraria. The colourful hairy larvae feed openly on the plants, often stripping off all the leaves. The mature larvae will sometimes wander from the plant to pupate. The loosely spun cocoon incorporates some of the larval hairs and may also be found amongst leaves.
Taxonomy Several species formerly placed here are now assigned to other genera. These include Utetheisa (containing Atasca, Pitasila and Raanya, erstwhile subgenera of Nyctemera), the revalidated Chiromachla, Podomachla and Xylecata, and the newly established Afronyctemera.
Species
Subgenus Arctata Roepke, 1949
Nyctemera angustipenis Nyctemera arctata Nyctemera montata Nyctemera browni Nyctemera consobriniformis Nyctemera gratia Nyctemera hyalina Nyctemera kinabaluensis Nyctemera kishidai Nyctemera lunulata Nyctemera luzonensis Nyctemera owadai Nyctemera palawanica Nyctemera robusta Nyctemera toxopei Nyctemera undulata
Subgenus Coleta Roepke, 1949
Nyctemera coleta Nyctemera groenendaeli
Subgenus Deilemera Hübner, , 1816
Nyctemera carissima Nyctemera evergista Nyctemera gerra Nyctemera luzonica Nyctemera maculata Nyctemera muelleri Nyctemera swinhoei
Subgenus Luctuosana de Vos, 2010
Nyctemera contrasta Nyctemera dentifascia Nyctemera herklotsii Nyctemera luctuosa Nyctemera ludekingii Nyctemera simulatrix
Subgenus Nyctemera s.str.
Nyctemera amicus Nyctemera annulata Nyctemera baulus Nyctemera cenis Nyctemera kala Nyctemera kebeae Nyctemera lacticinia Nyctemera latemarginata Nyctemera latistriga Nyctemera mastrigti Nyctemera obtusa Nyctemera pagenstecheri Nyctemera pseudokala Nyctemera sonticum Nyctemera warmasina
The Nyctemera (Nyctemera) clathrata species group
Nyctemera clathratum Nyctemera dauila Nyctemera giloloensis Nyctemera latimargo Nyctemera leopoldi Nyctemera mesolychna Nyctemera oninica
Subgenus Orphanos Hübner, , 1816
Nyctemera adversata Nyctemera apensis Nyctemera calcicola Nyctemera clarior Nyctemera distincta Nyctemera kiauensis Nyctemera kinibalina Nyctemera lugens Nyctemera malaccana Nyctemera ploesslo Nyctemera popiya Nyctemera radiata Nyctemera regularis Nyctemera sumatrensis Nyctemera tenompoka Nyctemera tripunctaria
Subgenus Tritomera de Vos & Dubatolov, 2010 Nyctemera trita
Unsorted Nyctemera species
Nyctemera formosana (mostly placed as a synonym of Nyctemera carissima) Nyctemera genora Nyctemera immitans Nyctemera quaternarium
Afrotropical species transferred into Afronyctemera Dubatolov, 2006 Nyctemera itokina
Afrotropical species transferred into Chiromachla Strand, 1909
Nyctemera chalcosidia Nyctemera gracilis Nyctemera insulare Nyctemera leuconoe Nyctemera pallescens Nyctemera perspicua Nyctemera restrictum Nyctemera seychellensis Nyctemera torbeni Nyctemera transitella
Afrotropical species transferred into Podomachla Strand, 1909
Nyctemera acraeina Nyctemera antinorii Nyctemera apicalis Nyctemera arieticornis Nyctemera chromis Nyctemera insularis Nyctemera usambarae Nyctemera virgo
Afrotropical species transferred into Xylecata Swinhoe, 1904
Nyctemera biformis Nyctemera crassiantennata Nyctemera druna Nyctemera glauce Nyctemera hemixantha Nyctemera rattrayi Nyctemera ugandicola Nyctemera uniformis Nyctemera xanthura
Main articles on Nyctemera taxonomy 1994 : Nyctemera groenendaeli spec. nov. from New Guinea (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Nyctemerina). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 15 (4): 481–489. 1995: A revision of Nyctemera consobrina (Hopffer, 1874) with redescription of three subspecies (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Nyctemerinae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 16 (1): 81–93. 1996: Nyctemera pseudokala sp. nov. and N. mastrigti sp. nov., two new species from Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Nyctemerinae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 17 (3): 301–311. 1997: A revision of Nyctemera kebeae (Bethune-Baker, 1904) (with descriptions of two new subspecies) and N. warmasina (Bethune-Baker, 1910) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Nyctemerinae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 18 (1): 1-12. 1997: The identity of Nyctemera simulatrix Walker, 1864 (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Nyctemerinae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 18 (2-3): 205–210. 2002: Revision of the Nyctemera evergista group (=subgenus Deilemera Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Arctiinae, Nyctemerini). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 23 (1/2): 7-32. 2007: Revision of the Nyctemera clathratum complex (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 150: 39–54. 2007: The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Aldrovandia 3: 31-120.
2010: Nyctemerini. In: , Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 65: 11–18. 2006: On the generic status of the Afrotropical Nyctemera species (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Atalanta 37 (1/2): 191–205.
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