Creatonotos gangis

Creatonotos gangis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Arctiidae
Genus:	Creatonotos
Species:	C. gangis
Binomial name
Creatonotos gangis (Linnaeus, 1763)
Synonyms [1]
Phalaena gangis Linnaeus, 1763 Creatonotos continuatus Moore, 1877

Creatonotos gangis is a species of arctiid moth found in South East Asia and Australia.

Description and life cycle

Adults have white hindwings, and brown forewings, each with a dark streak, and a wingspan of 40 millimetres (1.6 in).^[1] The abdomen is red or, more rarely, yellow.^[1] The eggs are yellow and round, and are laid in rows on the leaves of food plants. The caterpillars are brown, hairy animals with a yellow stripe along the back, with a polyphagous diet.^[1]

Distribution

Creatonotos gangis lives in South East Asia and parts of Australia.^[2] Its Asian distribution includes parts of China, India, Japan, Thailand and New Guinea.^[1] In Australia, it is restricted to northern parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, extending as far south as Mackay.^[3]

Ecology

Adult males secrete the pheromone hydroxydanaidal in order to attract mates. The amount produced, and the size of the coremata (scent organs) which produce it, are however dependent on the diet that the moth experienced as a caterpillar. If the larval diet contained pyrrolizidine alkaloids, then the coremata become large and the male will release up to 400 micrograms (0.0062 gr) of hydroxydanaidal, but if it does not, then the coremata do not grow large and no scent is produced.^[4]

The larvae of C. gangis can cause extensive damage to the foliage of pomegranate trees.^[2]

See also

Insects portal

• Pyrrolizidine alkaloid sequestration

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Don Herbison-Evans & Stella Crossley (January 2, 2010). "Creatonotos gangis (Linnaeus, 1763)". Lepidoptera Larvae of Australia. http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/arct/gangis.html. Retrieved February 19, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} D. Holland, K. Hatib & I. Bar-Ya'akov (2009). "Pomegranate: botany, horticulture, breeding". In Jules Janick. Horticultural Reviews, volume 35. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 127–191. ISBN 9780470386422. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jhwIJPPXEfsC&pg=PA162. 
3. ^ I. F. B. Common (1990). "Noctuoidea". Moths of Australia. Brill Publishers. pp. 417–469. ISBN 9789004092273. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=magzbmvdRvQC&pg=PA435. 
4. ^ Jeffrey B. Harborne (1993). "Plant toxins and their effects on animals". Introduction to Ecological Biochemistry (4th ed.). Gulf Professional Publishing. pp. 71–103. ISBN 9780123246868. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jSCFZRB42TwC&pg=PA98. 

Further reading

• Michael Boppré & Dietrich Schneider (1989). "The biology of Creatonotos (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) with special reference to the androconial system". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 96 (4): 339–356. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1989.tb02518.x.