Simplicia cornicalis

Simplicia cornicalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Genus:	Simplicia
Species:	S. cornicalis
Binomial name
Simplicia cornicalis (Fabricius, 1794)
Synonyms
Phalaena cornicalis Fabricius, 1794 (Fabricius, 1794) (Walker, [1859]) Swinhoe, 1919 Simplicia lautokiensis Sophronia caeneusalis A. E. Prout, 1933 Herminia cinerealis Walker, 1859 Sugi, 1965 Simplicia buffetti Bocana robustalis Holloway, 1977 Nodaria cornicalis Walker, 1866 Walker, 1866 Aginna simulata Simplicia caeneusalis Moore, 1882 Simplicia ryukyuensis Libisosa obiana

Simplicia cornicalis is a litter moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. It is found in south-eastern Asia and the Pacific. Records include New Caledonia, Réunion, Thailand, Fiji, Hawaii, India, Sri Lanka, the Society Islands, as well as New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. It is an introduced species in southern Florida and Louisiana in the United States.

Taxonomy

Simplicia caeneusalis was placed in synonymy with Simplicia cornicalis by Jeremy Daniel Holloway in 2008 after examination of the genitalia of the type in Copenhagen.

Description

The wingspan is 20–38 mm. Antennae of male knotted and contorted and with a slight tuft of scales at middle. The fore femur with a tuft of long hair. The sheath on fore tibia very long. Body more ochreous brown. Forewings with curved crenulate postmedial line. Hardly a trace of dark suffusion found inside the submarginal line, the area beyond it ochreous brown. Hindwings with dark suffusion, but lack grey color as in other species.

The larvae feed on dead leaves, and can be a pest for roofs constructed of dried palm leaves.

External links

• Zimmerman, Elwood C. (1958). Insects of Hawaii. Vol. 7 Macrolepidoptera. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. hdl:10125/7336.
• "930504.00 – 8339.1 – Simplicia cornicalis – (Fabricius, 1794)". North American Moth Photographers Group. Mississippi State University. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
• "New North American records of the Asian species, Simplicia cornicalis"