Utetheisa

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Cladus: Macroheterocera
Superfamilia: Noctuoidea

Familia: Erebidae
Subfamilia: Arctiinae
Tribus: Arctiini
Genus: Utetheisa
Subgenera: U. (Atasca) – U. (Pitasila) – U. (Raanya) – U. (Utetheisa)
Name

Utetheisa Hübner, 1819

Type species: Phalaena ornatrix Linnaeus, 1758, designated by Kirby, 1892; Synonymic Cat. Lepid. Heterocera 1: 345.
Synonyms

Uthetheisa Hübner, [1824] (misspelling)
Deiopeia Curtis, 1827
Exitelica Turner, 1921

References

Curtis, J., 1827: Brithish Entomology; being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland containing coloured figures from nature of the most rare and beautiful species, and in many instances of the plants upon which they are found 4: 147–194+2 p., pl. 147-194, London.
DaCosta, M.A. 2010: Phylogeny of Utetheisa s. str. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Arctinae) with comments on the evolution of colour, hind wing scales and origin of New World species. Invertebrate systematics, 24: 113–130. DOI: 10.1071/IS08006
Dowdy, N.J., Keating, S., Lemmon, A.R., Lemmon, E.M., Conner, W.E., Chialvo, C.H.S., Weller, S.J., Simmons, R.B., Sisson, M.S. & Zaspel, J.M. 2020. A deeper meaning for shallow-level phylogenomic studies: nested anchored hybrid enrichment offers great promise for resolving the tiger moth tree of life (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae). Systematic Entomology 45(4): 874–893. DOI: 10.1111/syen.12433 Reference page.
Hübner, J., 1816-[1826]: Verzeichnis bekannter Schmetterlinge: 431 pp., Augsburg.
Lafontaine, J.D. & Schmidt, B.C. 2010. Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico. Zookeys 40: 1–239. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.40.414 Reference page.
Perrott, D.C.F. 1966: Records of the arctiid genus Utetheisa in New Zealand. New Zealand entomologist, 3(5): 3–4. PDF BUGZ
Roque-Albelo, L. & Landry, B., 2009: Two new species of Utetheisa Hübner (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Arctiinae) from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Zookeys 21: 55-72. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.21.201. Reference page.
Vos de, R., 2007: The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subg. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Aldrovandia, 3: 31–120.
Witt, T.J. & Ronkay, L. (Eds.) 2011. Noctuidae Europaeae. Volume 13. Lymantriinae and Arctiinae, including phylogeny and check list of the quadrifid Noctuoidea of Europe. Entomological Press, Sorø, 448 pp. ISBN 978-87-89430-18-8. Reference page.

Utetheisa is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae. The genus was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1819.
Description

Palpi porrect (extending forward), extending beyond the frons. Antennae ciliated. Forewings long and narrow, where the outer margin is short and somewhat erect. Vein 3 from before angle of cell. Veins 4 and 5 from angle, vein 6 from upper angle and vein 7 to 10 from a short areole. Hindwing with vein 5 from above angle of cell. Vein 6 and 7 from upper angle and vein 8 from middle of cell.[1]

Caterpillars of many Utetheisa species feed on Crotalaria (rattlebox), and hence the genus as a whole is often called rattlebox moths. The adults usually have bright aposematic coloration[2] and contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are used as a chemical defense and are also incorporated into the sex pheromones of the males.[3]
Taxonomy

The members of its subgenera Pitasila, Atasca, and Raanya were formerly included in Nyctemera. Utetheisa is placed in the tribe Callimorphina or in the Nyctemerina; some treatments merge the two subtribes.[4][5]

Utetheisa is monophyletic.[3]
Utetheisa
Utetheisa (Pulchelloides) by Saptarshi Gayen
Selected species

Species of Utetheisa include:[6]

Subgenus Utetheisa

Utetheisa amhara Jordan, 1939
Utetheisa antennata Swinhoe, 1893
Utetheisa clareae Robinson, 1971
Utetheisa connerorum Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2009
Utetheisa cruentata (Butler, 1881)
Utetheisa devriesi Hayes, 1975
Utetheisa diva (Mabille, 1879)
Utetheisa elata (Fabricius, 1798)
Utetheisa elata fatela Jordan, 1939
Utetheisa elata fatua Heyn, 1906
Utetheisa galapagensis (Wallengren, 1860)
Utetheisa henrii Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2009
Utetheisa lactea (Butler, 1884)
Utetheisa lactea aldabrensis T. B. Fletcher, 1910
Utetheisa lotrix (Cramer, [1777]) – crotalaria moth
Utetheisa maddisoni Robinson & Robinson, 1980
Utetheisa ornatrix (Linnaeus, 1758) – ornate moth, bella moth
Utetheisa pectinata
Utetheisa perryi Hayes, 1975
Utetheisa pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758) – crimson-speckled flunkey
Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson, 1907 – heliotrope moth (syn: Utetheisa dorsifumata Prout, 1920)
Utetheisa salomonis
Utetheisa semara Moore, 1860
Utetheisa sumatrana Rothschild, 1910

Subgenus Atasca

Utetheisa aegrotum (Swinhoe, 1892)
Utetheisa albilinea De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa amboina De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa amosa (Swinhoe, 1903)
Utetheisa ampatica De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa aruensis De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa bouruana (Swinhoe, 1917)
Utetheisa ceramensis De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa externa (Swinhoe, 1917)
Utetheisa frosti (Prout, 1918)
Utetheisa pellex (Linnaeus, 1758)
Utetheisa separata (Walker, 1864)
Utetheisa watubela De Vos, 2007

Subgenus Raanya

Utetheisa albipuncta (Druce, 1888)
Utetheisa albipuncta zoilides (Prout, 1920)

Heliotrope moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides)

Subgenus Pitasila

Utetheisa assamica De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa abraxoides (Walker, 1862)
Utetheisa balinensis De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa disrupta (Butler, 1887)
Utetheisa disrupta burica (Holland, 1900)
Utetheisa distincta (Swinhoe, 1903) (syn: Utetheisa sangira (Swinhoe, 1903))
Utetheisa inconstans (Butler, 1880) (syn: Utetheisa okinawensis (Inoue, 1982))
Utetheisa flavothoracica De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa fractifascia (Wileman, 1911)
Utetheisa guttulosa (Walker, 1864)
Utetheisa latifascia (Hopffer, 1874)
Utetheisa leucospilota (Moore, 1877)
Utetheisa limbata (Roepke, 1949)
Utetheisa mendax De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa nivea De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa pala (Röber, 1891)
Utetheisa selecta (Walker, 1854)
Utetheisa specularis (Walker, 1856) (syn: Utetheisa macklotti (Vollenhoven, 1863))
Utetheisa specularis extendens De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa specularis oroya (Swinhoe, 1903)
Utetheisa timorensis (Roepke, 1954)
Utetheisa transiens (Jurriaanse & Lindemans, 1919)
Utetheisa vandenberghi (Nieuwenhuis, 1948)
Utetheisa varians (Walker, 1854)
Utetheisa variolosa (Felder & Rogenhofer, [1869] 1874)
Utetheisa vollenhovii (Snellen, 1890)
Utetheisa witti De Vos, 2007
Utetheisa ypsilon De Vos, 2007

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Utetheisa.
Wikispecies has information related to Utetheisa.

Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Garrett, S. E., et al. (2008). Alkaloidal protection of Utetheisa galapagensis (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) against an invertebrate and a vertebrate predator in the Galápagos Islands. Galápagos Research 65 2.
DaCosta, M. A. (2010). Phylogeny of Utetheisa s. str.(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Arctinae) with comments on the evolution of colour, hind wing scales and origin of New World species. Invertebrate Systematics 24(2), 113-30.
De Vos, R. (2007). The Utetheisa species of the subgenera Pitasila, Atasca and Raanya subgen. n. (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Aldrovandia. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Zoologia di Roma 3, 31-120.
De Vos, R. and V. V. Dubatolov. (2010). Nyctemerini. In: Dubatolov, V. V. Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 65, 11-18.

Savela, Markku. "Utetheisa Hübner, [1819]". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved April 1, 2018.