Kerr's Noctuid Moth
Encyclopedia
The Kerr's Noctuid Moth (Agrotis kerri) was a species of moth
in the Noctuidae
family. It is now extinct.
This moth was endemic to the French Frigate Shoals
, Outlying Hawaiian Islands
, United States
.
The larvae have been recorded on Boerhaavia tetrandra and Poriulaca oleracea. The caterpillar had a length of about 50 mm when full-grown. It resembled the caterpillar
of Agrotis crinigera except that the head was paler and almost entirely pale yellowish
testaceous with a slender black line along the paraclypeal suture, where crinigera has
quite a wide blackish mark. The cervical shield is also paler than that of crinigera.
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 Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
family. It is now extinct.
This moth was endemic to the French Frigate Shoals
French Frigate Shoals
The French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals...
, Outlying Hawaiian Islands
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. They are administered by the U.S. state of Hawaii except Midway Atoll, which has temporary residential facilities and is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The larvae have been recorded on Boerhaavia tetrandra and Poriulaca oleracea. The caterpillar had a length of about 50 mm when full-grown. It resembled the caterpillar
of Agrotis crinigera except that the head was paler and almost entirely pale yellowish
testaceous with a slender black line along the paraclypeal suture, where crinigera has
quite a wide blackish mark. The cervical shield is also paler than that of crinigera.
Source
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Agrotis kerri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 31 July 2007.
- Lepidoptera of the Outlying Hawaiian Islands