Calyptra minuticornis

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

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

Description

Its wingspan is about 50 mm. The antennae of the male are minutely ciliated. Forewings with rounded outer margin.[4] Head and thorax pale reddish brown and thickly irrorated with grey. Abdomen pale fuscous. Forewings 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. Hindwings 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]

The caterpillar feeds on Stephania japonica, Cissampelos, Cocculus and Cyclea species. It pupates in a cocoon between joined dead leaves in ground debris. The 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 (Guenée, 1852)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  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". Japanese Moths (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  5. Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  6. Herbison-Evans, Don & Crossley, Stella (28 February 2015). "Calyptra minuticornis (Guenée, 1852) Vampire Moth". Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. "Calyptra minuticornis Guenée". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 18 August 2016.


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