Calyptra minuticornis

Vampire moth
Dorsal view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Calyptra
Species: C. minuticornis
Binomial name
Calyptra minuticornis
(Guenée, 1852)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Calpe minuticornis Guenée, 1852
  • Calpe novaepommeraniae Strand, 1919

The Vampire moth, (Calyptra minuticornis), is a moth of the family Erebidae. It has been found in Indonesia, Java, India, Sri Lanka, and Australasia.[3]

Description

Wingspan about 50mm. Antennae of male minutely ciliated. Fore wings with rounded outer margin.[4] Head and thorax pale reddish brown and thickly irrorated with grey. Abdomen pale fuscous. Fore wings with pale red-brown with a silvery sheen and numerous fine pale striae. There are traces of sub-basal, antemedial, and medial oblique line present. A rufous line runs from apex to inner margin beyond middle. A series of submarginal specks present. Hind wings pale fuscous and cilia whitish. Larva olive-grey with a sub-dorsal series of black-bordered yellow spots. A sub-lateral series of specks enclosed from fourth somite by a pinkish bordered black line. Head ochreous, with paired lateral black spots. Legs pale pink.[5]

Caterpillar feeds on Stephania japonica, Cissampelos, Cocculus, Cyclea species. It pupates in a cocoon in between joined dead leaves in ground debris. Adult is a fruit-piercer and also observed to pierce skins of buffalo, zebu, tapir and even humans in labs to suck blood.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Calyptra minuticornis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  2. ↑ Savela, Markku Savela. "Calyptra minuticornis". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Zaspel, J.M.; Branham, M.A. (September 26, 2008). "World Checklist of Tribe Calpini (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae)" (PDF). Insecta Mundi: A Journal of World Insect Systematics. 0047 (1–15): 2. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Calyptra minuticornis". JPMoth (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  5. ↑ Hampson G. F. (1892). "The Fauna Of British India Including Ceylon And Burma Moths Vol-ii". Digital Library of India. p. 558. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Vampire Moth - Calyptra minuticornis (Guenée, 1852)". Butterfly House. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Calyptra minuticornis Guenée". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 18 August 2016.


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