- Urania fulgens
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Urania fulgens 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Uraniidae Subfamily: Uraniinae Genus: Urania Species: U. fulgens Binomial name Urania fulgens
Walker, 1854Synonyms - Cydimon cacica Guenee, 1857
Urania fulgens is a day-flying moth of the Uraniidae family. It is found from Veracruz, Mexico, through Central America to northwestern South America (west of the Andes and south to Ecuador).[1][2] It is highly migratory and has been recorded as a vagrant to Texas, USA.[2]
It is sometimes confused with the similar U. leilus, but that species is found east of the Andes in South America, is slightly larger and has more white to the "tail".[1] The two have been treated as conspecific.[1]
As appears to be the case for all Urania, the larvae of U. fulgens feed exclusively on the toxic Omphalea species.[3]
References
- ^ a b c Smith, N.G. (1972). Migrations of the day-flying moth Urania in Central and South America. Caribbean Journal of Science 12: 45-58
- ^ a b Quinn, M. (2011). Urania Natural History. Texas Lep Information. Accessed 12 October 2011.
- ^ Lees, D.C. and N.G. Smith (1991). Foodplant Associations of the Uraniinae (Uraniidae) and their Systematic, Evolutionary, and Ecological Significance. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 45(4): 296-347.
Categories:- Uraniidae
- Animals described in 1854
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