| Sky-pointing Moth (Agathodes designalis (Guenée, 1854)) |
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Scientific name: Agathodes designalis (Guenée, 1854) Common name: Sky-pointing Moth French name: Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Heterocera Family: Crambidae Subfamily: Spilomelinae Wingspan: 26-37 mm. Biotope: Geographic area: From the southern part of the United States to the extreme south of South America, West Indies. Introduced to the Galápagos Islands. Flight time: Probably all year round in tropical regions. Number of generations : Four broods between May and September in the south of the United States. Caterpillar: Translucent, orange or greenish with six rows of black spots. The general colour varies depending on the development stage and on the period of the year. Host plant: Fabaceae of the Erythrina genus (including Erythrina flabelliformis and Erythrina herbacea) and Inga genus (including Inga vera) and Verbenaceae of the Citharexylum genus (including Citharexylum spinosum). |
All moths of the Agathodes genus are used to slowly raising their abdomen upwards when landed. Agathodes designalis is a small multi-coloured Crambidae with thin and elongated fore wings. The abdomen is pale brown with a russet brown mark, outlined with white, on the upper side. The fore wings are marbled with purple (oblique median band), with green, with beige (semi-circular subapical spot) and with pale brown. The hind wings are a uniform pale beige colour. |
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I have shot this picture at Roura, at Camps Patawa, during a light trap night session. I do need a true macro flash to avoid these unaesthetic shadows. |
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This upper side view is better to see the colour pattern of the wings |
André Bon October 2015