Eudocima aurantia
Eudocima aurantia, the fruit-sucking moth,[1] is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Frederic Moore in 1877. It is found across south-east Asia, from Sri-Lanka to northern Queensland, Australia. It is also present on the Andamans.
Fruit-sucking moth | |
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Female, dorsal view | |
Male, dorsal view | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Erebidae |
Genus: | Eudocima |
Species: | E. aurantia |
Binomial name | |
Eudocima aurantia (Moore, 1877) | |
Synonyms | |
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Description
The wingspan is about 90–120 mm. Palpi with third joint long and spatulate at extremity. Forewings with produced apex to a rounded lobe. Head and thorax ferrous colored, with plum-color suffusion. Abdomen orange. Forewing ferrous with dark stria and slight purple bloom. The veins speckled with blue. Reniform green and indistinct. There is a dark line runs from apex to center of inner margin, sometimes with green patches beyond it. Hindwings orange with a large black lunule beyond lower angle of cell. A submarginal patch can be seen between veins 1 and 2. Ventral side orange. Forewings with black mark below angle of cell and beyond the cell between veins 3 and 5. Hindwings with lunule and patch of upperside.[2]
Ecology
Larva has pinkish grey dorsal surface suffused darker to a V-shaped yellow band. It has black spiracles and marbled white-ringed rufous-orange ocellate marks with three ferrous lines crossing them. The larvae feed on Cocculus species. The adults are a pest on various fruits. They pierce the fruit in order to suck the juice.[3]
Adults and caterpillars both harm fruits, by piercing, sucking juice and eating flesh. Fruits may show pre-mature fall due to the attack. Parasitoids such as Telenomus lucullus and Euplectrus melanocephalus used as controlling measures.[4]
References
- "Species: Eudocima aurantia".
- Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Holloway, Jeremy Daniel. "Eudocima [Khadira] aurantia Moore". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- Herbison-Evans, Don & Crossley, Stella (23 February 2017). "Eudocima aurantia (Moore, 1877) Fruit Sucking Moth". Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved 15 January 2019.