Uresiphita polygonalis
Encyclopedia
Uresiphita polygonalis is a moth
of the Crambidae
family. It is found in the Pacific, including Hawaii
and New Zealand
.
The wingspan
is about 27 mm. Adults range in color from green to red.
The larvae feed on various plants, including Acacia koa and Sophora chrysophylla in Hawaii. They feed gregariously among webbed leaves.
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 Crambidae
Crambidae
The Crambidae are the grass moth family of Lepidoptera . They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae taking up closely folded postures on grass-stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects which rest in...
family. It is found in the Pacific, including Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
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 27 mm. Adults range in color from green to red.
The larvae feed on various plants, including Acacia koa and Sophora chrysophylla in Hawaii. They feed gregariously among webbed leaves.
Subspecies
- Uresiphita polygonalis polygonalis
- Uresiphita polygonalis virescens (Butler, 1881) (Hawaii)
- Uresiphita polygonalis maorialis (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) (New Zealand)