Galtara extensa

Galtara extensa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Euarthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Genus:	Galtara
Species:	G. extensa
Binomial name
Galtara extensa (Butler, 1880)
Synonyms
Sommeria extensa Butler, 1880 Secusio extensa

Galtara extensa is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It is found on the Comoros and in Madagascar.^[1]

Biology

The eggs of this species have a diameter of 0.8 mm and 0.75 mm in height (dome shaped). They are of cream to white colour when deposited and turn black on the day before hatching. They are laid singly or in batches underside of the leaves. The duration of eggs is 5–6 days. The larvae feed at night, their head is smooth, the body is covered with dark, plumose setae. At maturity they reach a size of 26.4 mm. Pupae is abouth half the length of the larvae, the pupal stage is of 11–12 days.

Adults of this moth are mostly of mottled shades of gray with white and with black spotting on the forewings. The whole life span of this moths is about 41 days, producing up to 9 generation in a year under laboratory conditions.

The larvae of this moths feed on fireweed Senecio madagascariensis (an Asteraceae), a plant also native to Madagascar that had been introduced to Australia and Hawaii, where it has become an invasive pest.^[2]

To a lesser extent they also feed on Delairea odorata, Senecio vulgaris, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Emilia fosbergii, Erechtites hieracifolia and Helianthus annuus (Sunflowers).^[3]

Biological control

In December 2012 the United States Departement of Agriculture approved the release of Galtara extensa in Hawaii to combat the spread of fireweed.^[4]

References

• Butler 1880b. On a collection of Lepidoptera from Madagascar with descriptions of new genera and species. - Annals and Magazine of Natural History (5)5:333–344, 384–395.

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