Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Agathodes monstralis Guenée, 1854
Agathodes designalis monstralis (Munroe, 1995)
Stenurges floridalis Hulst, 1886
Explanation of Names
Agathodes monstralis Guenée, 1854, formerly treated as a subspecies of Agathodes designalis Guenée, 1854, is raised to full species status with Stenurges floridalis Hulst, 1886 as a synonym. A. designalis is extralimital north of Costa Rica. - Sourakov et al. (2015)
Size
Forewing length 13-18.5 mm.
(1)Identification
Adult: purple-and-green marbled, hindwings are beige, abdomen held in an up-right position, males with pair of hair-pencils that are extended for the release of pheromones.
Larva: early instars translucent and orange with six rows of short, black-sclerotized tubercles, and are cryptic. Later instars with cream-colored longitudinal stripes, and the black tubercles become more prominent on the orange background, head is bright red.
Range
mostly coastal localities from SC to e TX, plus se AZ / W. Indies -
Map (MPG)
Season
Four generations between May and September in north-central Florida
Food
Larvae are leaf-rollers; hosts are
Erythrina flabelliformis in Arizona and
Erythrina,
Inga,
Citharexylum in Florida. More complete information from Sourakov, 2011.
(2) Summer and Fall generations feed on leaves and develop slower than the Spring generation that feeds on nutritious flowers
(1)Life Cycle
Eggs laid singly on the ventral side of the leaf (Bourquin 1945). See complete life history by Sourakov, 2011
(2)Print References
Boisduval & Guenée, 1854. Histoire naturelle des insectes spécies général des lépidoptères 8:
209.
Brou Jr., V.A., 2008.
Agathodes designalis Guenée, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Louisiana. Southern Lepidopterists' Society,
PDF.
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. p.179, pl.23.32
(1)
Sourakov, A. 2011. Niche partitioning, co-evolution and life histories of Erythrina moths,
Terastia meticulosalis and
Agathodes designalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Trop. Lepid. Res. 21(2): 84-94 (
PDF)
(2)
Sourakov A., D. Plotkin, A.Y. Kawahara, L. Xiao, W. Hallwachs, D. Janzen, 2015. On the taxonomy of the erythrina moths Agathodes and Terastia (Crambidae: Spilomelinae): Two different patterns of haplotype divergence and a new species of Terastia. Tropical Lepidoptera Research. 25(2):
80-97.
