Somena scintillans

Somena scintillans, the yellow tail tussock moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae described by Francis Walker in 1856.[1][2] It is found in northern India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Andaman Islands.[3] Though considered a minor pest, larva can sporadically be a serious pest.

Yellow tail tussock moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Somena
Species:
S. scintillans
Binomial name
Somena scintillans
(Walker, 1856)
Synonyms
  • Artaxa scintillans
  • Euproctis scintillans
  • Nygmia scintillans
  • Prothesia scintillans

Description

Head yellow. Thorax brownish. Abdomen black or yellow with orange anal tuft. Forewing vinous brown, irrorated (sprinkled) with dark scales, which colour extends as two spurs across the yellow marginal area below the apex and to center of margin, but sometimes not reaching the margin. Costa often yellowish. Hindwings yellow, or in some specimens fuscous brown with a broad yellow margin.[4]

It is a polyphagous species. Larva dark brown with a series of crimson lateral tubercles on a yellow line bearing tufts of grey hair. The third somite banded with yellow. Dorsal tufts of short brown hair on fourth, fifth and eleventh somites. Fifth to tenth somites with a broad, dorsal yellow stripe. There is a yellow spot on the anal somite.

Larva is known to damage apple plantations,[5] and is commonly collected on ragi, castor, pigeon pea, cowpea, field bean, cucurbits, mango, citrus, hibiscus, rose, ficus, coffee, tea, and many more.[6]

References
  1. Yu, Dicky Sick Ki. "Euproctis scintillans (Walker 1856)". Home of Ichneumonoidea. Taxapad. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  2. Wang, H.-S.; M. Wang & X.-L. Fan (2011). "Notes on the tribe Nygmiini (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Lymantriinae) from Nanling National Nature Reserve, with description of a new species". Zootaxa. 2887: 57–68.
  3. Savela, Markku. "Somena scintillans Walker, 1856". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  4. Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. "Somena scintillans Walker (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) on Apple Plantations in Jammu". Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. "Somena scintillans (Walker)". ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources. Retrieved 21 July 2016.


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