Argina astrea
Encyclopedia
The Crotalaria pod borer (Argina astrea) is a moth
of the Arctiidae
family. It is found in eastern Africa
, southern Asia
and Indo-Australia, including the Pacific Islands and Australia
.
The wingspan
is about 40 mm. The species is extremely variable in wingpattern as well as ground colour.
The larvae feed on Crotalaria
species.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Arctiidae
Arctiidae
Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...
family. It is found in eastern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Indo-Australia, including the Pacific Islands and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 40 mm. The species is extremely variable in wingpattern as well as ground colour.
The larvae feed on Crotalaria
Crotalaria
Crotalaria is a genus of herbaceous plants and woody shrubs in the Family Fabaceae commonly known as rattlepods. Some 600 or more species of Crotalaria are described worldwide, mostly from the tropics; at least 500 species are known from Africa. Some species of Crotalaria are grown as ornamentals...
species.
Subspecies
- Argina astrea astrea (China (Yunnan, Hongkong, Zhejiang, Guangdong), Taiwan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma, Philippines, Japan (Ryukyu), Indochina, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, Oceania, eastern Africa, Ghana, Madagascar, Seyschelles)
- Argina astrea pardalina (eastern Africa, Madagascar)