Tetracona Explained

Tetracona is a genus of snout moths in the subfamily Spilomelinae of the family Crambidae. The genus was described by Edward Meyrick in 1884 with Aediodes amathealis Walker, 1859 as type species.^[1]

The genus was long treated as a synonym of Agrotera, but a recent taxonomic revision of Agrotera resulted in the re-instatement of Tetracona.^[2]

The genus is placed in the tribe Agroterini based on the structure of the uncus, featuring a broad base and simple chaetae on the uncus head, a well-developed medial process of the gnathos, the rectangular, elongate valvae with parallel costal and ventral margins, and the notably elongate saccus (at least in T. amathealis).^[3]

The genus with its three species is known from Australia, New Guinea and China.^{[4] [5]}

The caterpillars of Tetracona amathealis are recorded from Eucalyptus tereticornis in the Myrtaceae.^[4]

Species

• Tetracona amathealis (Walker, 1859)
• Tetracona multispina Jie & Li in Jie et al. 2020^[5]
• Tetracona pictalis Warren, 1896

Notes and References

1. Meyrick . Edward . Edward Meyrick . 1884 . On the classification of the Australian Pyralidina . Transactions of the Entomological Society of London . 1884 . 61–80, 277–350 .
2. Chen . Kai . Horak . Marianne . Marianne Horak . Du . Xicui . Zhang . Dandan . 2017 . Revision of the Australian species of Agrotera Schrank (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae: Spilomelinae) . Zootaxa . 4362 . 2 . 213–224 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4362.2.2 . 29245425 . free .
3. Mally . Richard . Hayden . James E. . Neinhuis . Christoph . Jordal . Bjarte H. . Nuss . Matthias . 2019 . The phylogenetic systematics of Spilomelinae and Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae) inferred from DNA and morphology . Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny . 77 . 1 . 141–204 . 10.26049/ASP77-1-2019-07 . 1863-7221 .
4. Web site: Agrotera amathealis (Walker, 1859) . Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths . 2020-04-18 .
5. Jie . Lu-Lan . Yang . Jing-Bo . Li . Wei-Chun . 2020 . First record of the genus Tetracona Meyrick (Lepidoptera, Crambidae) from China, with description of a new species . ZooKeys . 941 . 101–105 . 32595410. 10.3897/zookeys.941.49559 . 7311512 . free .