Asota speciosa

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Specious tiger
A long caterpillar with numerous black legs with irregular alternating horizontal bands of black and bright light yellow color; all with varying widths and irregular edges. The head is orange.
Caterpillar of A. speciosa walking on gravel
A moth with a small head, the back of the head and shoulder-area are yellowish-orange with white lines bordering the area and black dots scattered along those white lines and a single black dot at the centre of the back, Two antennae are present. The wings are light brown with whitish 'veins'. When opened for flight, the entire body can he seen in the same theme as the upper body in yellowish-orange with white lines and numerous black dots.
Moth of A. speciosa laying on a leaf
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Asota
Species:
A. speciosa
Binomial name
Asota speciosa
(Drury, 1773)
Synonyms
  • Phalaena speciosa Drury, 1773
  • Aganais speciosa (Drury, 1773)
  • Hypsa subretracta Walker, 1856
  • Hypsa undulifera Walker, 1856
  • Aganais aphidas Hopffer, 1858
  • Pseudhypsa baumanniana Karsch, 1895
  • Aganais unicolor Rothschild, 1896
  • Aganais conspicua Swinhoe, 1903

Asota speciosa, the specious tiger, formerly Aganais speciosa, is a

Aganaidae, which was formerly regarded as a family by some authorities.[1][2] The species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa
, such as in Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mozambique and South Africa.

The larvae feed on certain latex-rich plants, mainly

midrib, severing the latex vessels before proceeding to feed on the portion of the leaf blade distal to the sabotage, which is no longer supplied with latex.[4]

References

  1. S2CID 84249695
    .
  2. doi:10.3897/zookeys.40.414
    .
  3. ISBN 1-86872-713-0
    .
  4. ^ COMPTON, S.G. 1987. Aganais speciosa and Danaus chrysippus (Lepidoptera) sabotage the latex defences of their host plants. Ecological Entomology 12: 115-118


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