Amerila
Encyclopedia
Amerila is a genus
of moth
in the family Arctiidae
. A number of species in this genus have a special defence mechanism when they are in their adult stage. When disturbed, they exude a frothy yellow fluid from glands beside the eyes, while making a sizzling noise to ward off their attacker. Similar behaviour has been observed in fertilised females of the North-American moth Utetheisa ornatrix.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
in the family Arctiidae
Arctiidae
Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...
. A number of species in this genus have a special defence mechanism when they are in their adult stage. When disturbed, they exude a frothy yellow fluid from glands beside the eyes, while making a sizzling noise to ward off their attacker. Similar behaviour has been observed in fertilised females of the North-American moth Utetheisa ornatrix.
Species
- Amerila abdominalis (Rothschild, 1933)
- Amerila accra (Strand, 1919)
- Amerila affinis (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila alberti (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila albivitrea (Hampson, 1901)
- Amerila aldabrensis (Fryer, 1912)
- Amerila androfusca (Pinhey, 1952)
- Amerila arthusbertrand (Guérin-Méneville, 1830)
- Amerila astreus (Drury, 1773)
- Amerila bauri (Möschler, 1884)
- Amerila bipartita (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila brunnea (Hampson, 1901)
- Amerila bubo (Walker, 1855)
- Amerila castanea (Hampson, 1911)
- Amerila catinca Häuser et Boppre, 1997
- Amerila cynira (Muller, 1980), nomen nudum
- Amerila crokeriAmerila crokeriCroker's Frother is a moth of the Arctiidae family. It is found in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, New Guinea and New Britain.The wingspan is about 50 mm.-External links:*...
(MacLeay, 1826) - Amerila curta (Rothschild, 1917)
- Amerila erythropus (Rothschild, 1917)
- Amerila eugenia (Fabricius, 1794)
- Amerila femina (Berio, 1935)
- Amerila fennia (Druce, 1887)
- Amerila fumida (Swinhoe, 1901)
- Amerila fuscivena (Hampson, 1916)
- Amerila howardi (Pinhey, 1955)
- Amerila kiellandi Häuser et Boppre, 1997
- Amerila kuehni (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila lactea (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila leucoptera (Hampson, 1901)
- Amerila lineolata (Kiriakoff, 1954)
- Amerila lucida (Muller, 1980), nomen nudum
- Amerila lupia (Druce, 1887)
- Amerila luteibarba (Hampson, 1901)
- Amerila madagascariensis (Boisduval, 1847)
- Amerila magnifica (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila makadara Häuser et Boppre, 1997
- Amerila mulleri Häuser et Boppre, 1997
- Amerila myrrha (Muller, 1980), nomen nudum
- Amerila nigrivenosa (Grünberg, 1910)
- Amerila nigroapicalis (Aurivillius, 1900)
- Amerila nigropunctata (Bethune-Baker, 1908)
- Amerila niveivitrea (Bartel, 1903)
- Amerila omissaAmerila omissaAmerila omissa is a moth of the Arctiidae family. It is found from the north-eastern parts of the Himalaya, through China and Malaysia to Borneo.-External links:*...
(Rothschild, 1910) - Amerila phaedra Weymer, 1892
- Amerila piepersii Snellen, 1879
- Amerila puella (Fabricius, [1794])
- Amerila rhodopa Walker, 1865
- Amerila roseomarginata (Rothschild, 1910)
- Amerila rubripes Walker, 1865
- Amerila rufifemur (Walker, 1855)
- Amerila rufitarsis (Rothschild, 1917)
- Amerila serica Meyrick, 1886
- Amerila shimbaensis Häuser et Boppre, 1997
- Amerila simillima (Rothschild, 1917)
- Amerila syntomina (Butler, 1878)
- Amerila thermochroa (Hampson, 1916)
- Amerila timolis (Rothschild, 1914)
- Amerila vidua (Cramer, 1780)
- Amerila vitrea Plötz, 1880
Incorretly placed species
- Amerila atrivena Hampson, 1907 (in DubatoloviaDubatoloviaDubatolovia is a monotypic genus of moth in the family Arctiidae from the Afrotropics. It includes one species: Dubatolovia atrivena ....
, SpilosominiSpilosominiThe Spilosomini is the largest tribe of moths in the Arctiinae subfamily. As numerous arctiine genera have not yet been assigned to a tribe, the genus list is preliminary.-Genera:*Aethalida*Acantharctia*Afraloa*Afroarctia...
) - Amerila hersilia Druce, 1887 (in CaryatisCaryatisIn ancient Greek religion Artemis Caryatis was an epithet of Artemis that was derived from the small polis of Karyai in Laconia; there an archaic open-air temenos was dedicated to Carya, the Lady of the Nut-Tree, whose priestesses were called the caryatidai, represented on the Athenian Acropolis as...
, NyctemeriniNyctemeriniThe Nyctemerini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes merged into the related Callimorphini, but Nyctemerini is an elder name.-Genera:*Afrocoscinia*Agaltara...
) - Amerila phileta (Drury, 1782) (in CaryatisCaryatisIn ancient Greek religion Artemis Caryatis was an epithet of Artemis that was derived from the small polis of Karyai in Laconia; there an archaic open-air temenos was dedicated to Carya, the Lady of the Nut-Tree, whose priestesses were called the caryatidai, represented on the Athenian Acropolis as...
, NyctemeriniNyctemeriniThe Nyctemerini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes merged into the related Callimorphini, but Nyctemerini is an elder name.-Genera:*Afrocoscinia*Agaltara...
) - Amerila stenoperas Hampson, 1910 (in CaryatisCaryatisIn ancient Greek religion Artemis Caryatis was an epithet of Artemis that was derived from the small polis of Karyai in Laconia; there an archaic open-air temenos was dedicated to Carya, the Lady of the Nut-Tree, whose priestesses were called the caryatidai, represented on the Athenian Acropolis as...
, NyctemeriniNyctemeriniThe Nyctemerini are a tribe of woolly bear moths in the subfamily Arctiinae. They are sometimes merged into the related Callimorphini, but Nyctemerini is an elder name.-Genera:*Afrocoscinia*Agaltara...
)