Speiredonia Explained

Speiredonia is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae. It was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823.

Description

Palpi with thickened second joint, reaching vertex of head and third joint of moderate length. Antennae of male with minute fascicules of cilia. Thorax quadrately scaled. Abdomen with dorsal ridges of hair. Tibia slightly hairy, and mid-tibia spineless. Forewings with arched costa towards apex. Cilia crenulate. Hindwings with crenulate cilia as well, but with short cell. Vein 5 from lower angle of cell.^[1]

Defensive display

See also: Deimatic behaviour and Deception in animals. Some of the species, such as Speiredonia spectans, S. cthulhui, S. hogenesi, S. martabanica, S. sandokana, S. alix. S. itynx, S. levis and S. celebensis have a pattern on the wings that while the moth is at rest looks like the 3-dimensional face of a lurking animal with eyes and nostrils. This pattern is more clearly discernible in females^[2] and may cause an attacking predator to hesitate or perhaps withdraw.^[3]

Species

• Speiredonia alix (Guenée, 1852)
• Speiredonia celebensis Hogenes & Zilli, 2005
• Speiredonia cthulhui Zilli & Holloway, 2005
• Speiredonia cymosema (Hampson, 1926)
• Speiredonia darwiniana Zilli, 2010
• Speiredonia gowa Holloway & Zilli, 2005
• Speiredonia hogenesi Zilli, 2002
• Speiredonia ibanorum Holloway & Zilli, 2005
• Speiredonia inocellata Sugi, 1996
• Speiredonia itynx Fabricius, 1787
• Speiredonia levis Holloway & Zilli, 2005
• Speiredonia martabanica Holloway & Zilli, 2005
• Speiredonia mutabilis Fabricius, 1794
• Speiredonia obscura (Cramer, 1780)
• Speiredonia sandokana Zilli & Holloway, 2005
• Speiredonia simplex Butler, 1877
• Speiredonia spectans (Guenée, 1852)  - granny's cloak moth
• Speiredonia strigiformis (Robinson, 1975)
• Speiredonia substruens (Walker, 1858)

External links

• • • Web site: Pitkin . Brian . Jenkins . Paul . amp . Search results Family: Noctuidae . Butterflies and Moths of the World . Natural History Museum, London.
• Web site: Savela . Markku . Speiredonia Hübner, [1823] ]. Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms . July 24, 2018.

Notes and References

1. Book: Hampson, G. F. . George Hampson

   . George Hampson . 1894 . The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II . Taylor and Francis . Biodiversity Heritage Library.

2. Alberto . Zilli . Jeremy D. . Holloway . Willem . Hogenes . amp . 2005 . An Overview of the Genus Speiredonia with Description of Seven New Species (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722043508/http://www.museodizoologia.it/ricerca/aldrovandia/aldrovandia-volume-1-2005-1/an-overview-of-the-genus-speiredonia-with-description-of-seven-new-species-insecta-lepidoptera-noctuidae . dead . 2011-07-22 . Aldrovandia . 1 . 17–36 . Internet Archive.
3. John L. Capinera, Encyclopedia of Entomology, Volume 4, p. 1174