Unknown Tiger Moth from Patagonia: Noctuid Moth

bugman

February 24th, 2008 at 1:00 am

Categories

Moths

Arctiidae moth from Northeast Patagonia, Argentina
Hi Bugman!
I´ve found this beautiful and elegant moth several times since January, probably attracted by lights of a new building between the coastal dunes and the shrub vegetation (that we call "monte" in spanish) in Las Grutas, a beach city in Río Negro, Patagonia, Argentina. It is no longer than 2cm (0.8 inches). Hind wings have white and black broad lines and bloody red in the posterior area. All the femurs are shocking red too. I´ve been searching dozens of websites with Arctiidae pictures, but there are very few with southern South America´s ones. No luck until now… So I will try sending my low quality pictures (taken with a pocket cam) to you, in hope you can help me! Your site is one of my favourites, and I´m visiting it as much as I can to enjoy and learn with you and the people who write. I´m biologist, and had worked in spider taxonomy, but right now I´m working with shorebirds ecology. Your site keeps my loved and amazing bugs from all the world at hand! Thanks a lot for your work!
Mirta
in San Antonio Oeste and Las Grutas
Río Negro. Patagonia
Argentina

Hi Mirta,
Thank you so much for your touching letter. It is the first query we have ever received from Patagonia. Sadly, we cannot identify your lovely Tiger Moth, but we plan to post it for our readership. We will also contact our venerable neighbor, Julian Donahue, an expert in the Arctiidae, in the hopes that he can provide you with an answer.

Update: (03/10/2008)
Hi Daniel,
Got the photos, and have printed them. I won’t be able to give you an answer until I check my references at the Museum on my next visit … . However, I suspect that your moth is actually a noctuid, rather than an arctiid (although the higher classification nerds have recently demoted the arctiids to a subfamily of noctuids–what a blow!). Just didn’t want you to think I overlooked your query. All the best,
Julian

Tiger Moth from Seattle with a very limited range is Lophocampa roseata (July 14, 2008)
Geometrid, not Unknown Tiger Moth from Oaxaca (May 15, 2008)
Horse Fly from Patagonia (January 3, 2009)
Mexican Noctuid Moth (July 14, 2009)
Cream Spot Tiger Moth from Turkey (September 17, 2009)

Comments 1

honeym wrote:
Hi Mirta

The moth in your photograph matches a published figure of Chlanidophora patagiata Berg, described by him in 1877 in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, volume 52, page 9.

It was described from a male specimen from Carmen de Patagones ands the holotype specimen is supposed to be in the Museum in Buenos Aires.

I’ve not been able to find out much more about it but there is a note about its biology (Bourquin, F. 1949. Notes sobre la metamorfosis de Eugliphys bridarolliana Kohler 1949 Lep. Fam. Lasiocampidae – de Chlanidophora patagiata Berg 1877 Lep. Fam. Arctiadae – de Heliconius phyilis F. 1775 Lep. Fam. Heliconiidae – de Cucullia heinrichi Kohler. Acta zool. lilloana, Tucuman 7: 385-391).

As Julian has mentioned, its taxonomic position is not fully resolved so there is scope for further reaearch on this, and related, species. It may be related to some species of noctuid currently placed in the subfamily Glottulinae.

I hope that this helps.

Best wishes

Martin (Lepidoptera Curator, NHM London)
Posted 29 Nov 2009 at 10:14 am ¶