A Sprinkle of Earth
Letis specularis (Hübner, 1821) ♀ - Letis Moth
Fool's Magic
Description:
UPDATE: This is a female of Letis specularis and, as of now, 4th of September, 2021 at 00:15am, the only species in the genus.
Right now (9th of April, 2018), Letis specularis is a moth placed in the order Lepidoptera, superfamily Noctuoidea, family Erebidae, subfamily Erebinae and tribe Thermesiini. This genus suffered from numerous changes through the years and might suffer more. You can find more about this here: www.zobodat.at/pdf/Quad_6_0141-0152.pdf
The larvae probably feed on Fabaceae and are known to have the habit of collecting leaves to pupate, probably a camouflage mechanism to hide from potential predators. I'm unaware if there are other host plants. Adults are nectarivorous and of nocturnal activity. The adult moths are large; the males' wingspan lies somewhere around 80-85mm, whereas the females' wingspan lies somewhere around 90-95mm. Each wing is marked with a whitish, translucid spot. The back of the hindwings are chracteristic and can serve as differentiation from Feigeria scops (Guenée, 1852) (syn: Letis scops (Guenée, 1852))(v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=3...) besides distribution.
Subtle or questionably fair color changes have been reported on Letis specularis and all individuals with those changes were identified as Letis specularis; this could be due to some intraspecific variation (which is more probable) or, given this moth's complicated past and lack of studies (at least of those known to me), they MIGHT be assembled into a different species. For now, this is a Letis specularis.
Here is a picture of the larva of Letis specularis on an earlier stage of development and a possible host plant, and of a larva in a later stage of development, as well as the pupa, both courtesy of friend Wolfgang Walz:
According to Wolfgang Walz, it is known that some species of Lepidoptera larvae feed on certain plants and migrate to another to rest, which he thinks is the case for the second individual. Furthermore, he goes on to say that the chrysalis-adult (metamorphosis) process takes around, more or less, 20 days and that polymorphism is attributed to the species.
Other source:
www.researchgate.net/publication/290813738_Le_Genre_Letis...
PROJECT NOAH (Português): www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1117645366
Letis specularis (Hübner, 1821) ♀ - Letis Moth
Fool's Magic
Description:
UPDATE: This is a female of Letis specularis and, as of now, 4th of September, 2021 at 00:15am, the only species in the genus.
Right now (9th of April, 2018), Letis specularis is a moth placed in the order Lepidoptera, superfamily Noctuoidea, family Erebidae, subfamily Erebinae and tribe Thermesiini. This genus suffered from numerous changes through the years and might suffer more. You can find more about this here: www.zobodat.at/pdf/Quad_6_0141-0152.pdf
The larvae probably feed on Fabaceae and are known to have the habit of collecting leaves to pupate, probably a camouflage mechanism to hide from potential predators. I'm unaware if there are other host plants. Adults are nectarivorous and of nocturnal activity. The adult moths are large; the males' wingspan lies somewhere around 80-85mm, whereas the females' wingspan lies somewhere around 90-95mm. Each wing is marked with a whitish, translucid spot. The back of the hindwings are chracteristic and can serve as differentiation from Feigeria scops (Guenée, 1852) (syn: Letis scops (Guenée, 1852))(v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=3...) besides distribution.
Subtle or questionably fair color changes have been reported on Letis specularis and all individuals with those changes were identified as Letis specularis; this could be due to some intraspecific variation (which is more probable) or, given this moth's complicated past and lack of studies (at least of those known to me), they MIGHT be assembled into a different species. For now, this is a Letis specularis.
Here is a picture of the larva of Letis specularis on an earlier stage of development and a possible host plant, and of a larva in a later stage of development, as well as the pupa, both courtesy of friend Wolfgang Walz:
According to Wolfgang Walz, it is known that some species of Lepidoptera larvae feed on certain plants and migrate to another to rest, which he thinks is the case for the second individual. Furthermore, he goes on to say that the chrysalis-adult (metamorphosis) process takes around, more or less, 20 days and that polymorphism is attributed to the species.
Other source:
www.researchgate.net/publication/290813738_Le_Genre_Letis...
PROJECT NOAH (Português): www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1117645366