Andriasa contraria

Andriasa contraria
Andriasa contraria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Andriasa
Species: A. contraria
Binomial name
Andriasa contraria
Walker, 1856[1]
Synonyms
  • Polyptychus contraria
  • Baniana submarginalis Walker, [1865]
  • Andriasa suffusa (Walker, 1869)
  • Andriasa adansoniae (Boisduval, [1875])
  • Andriasa pechuelii (Dewitz, 1879)
  • Dewitzia perpallida Holland, 1893
  • Dewitzia crenulata (Bethune-Baker, 1911)
  • Dewitzia objectus (Strand, 1912)
  • Dewitzia towadeus (Gehlen, 1935)
  • Dewitzia stigmaticus (Gehlen, 1940)

Andriasa contraria is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from tropical Africa, including Kenya, Cameroon and South Africa. It is a very variable species and is common in all habitats except deserts and high mountains.[2]

The length of the forewings is 25-31 mm for males. The females are larger and have longer and narrower wings. The forewing upperside ground colour for males varies from very pale buff to yellowish-grey or reddish-buff. There are numerous irregular transverse lines ranging from highly conspicuous in some individuals to almost absent in others. The discal spot varies from almost absent to very large and conspicuous (form stigmatica). The forewing upperside marking for females is similar to and as variable as the male, but the ground colour is darker and reddish-buff to dark reddish-brown.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on the leaves of Spathodea campanulata. Other recorded foodplants include Newboldia and Markhamia species.

Subspecies

  • Andriasa contraria contraria (South Africa to Tanzania, East Africa and Ethiopia)
  • Andriasa contraria diffusus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1910) (Eritrea)
  • Andriasa contraria submarginalis (Walker, 1865) (West Africa to the Congo, Uganda and west Kenya)
  • Andriasa contraria suffusa (Walker, 1869) (Cameroon)

References

  1. ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Andriasa/contraria.html. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
  2. ^ "Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African species". Biodiversitylibrary.org. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/jeanhs/XXVI%20No.3%20(115)_1_1967_Carcasson.pdf. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
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