Gadirtha fusca

Gadirtha fusca
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nolidae
Genus:	Gadirtha
Species:	G. fusca
Binomial name
Gadirtha fusca Pogue, 2014

Gadirtha fusca is a moth of the Nolidae family. It is found in east-central and south-eastern China.

The length of the forewings is 18.5–22.4 mm for males and 20.9–23.1 mm for females. The ground colour of the forewings in males is brownish grey, with varying amounts of indistinct rufous areas. There is a rectangulate dark grey basal spot on the costa and a fainter dark grey triangulate spot proximal to the apex. The hindwings are dark grey. Females have pale brownish grey forewings. There are four to five generations per year in Hubei.

The larvae feed on the leaves of Triadica sebifera. There are six larval instars. The larvae reach a length of 28–33.5 mm and have a pale green to yellow-green ground colour and a yellow head. The species overwinters as an egg on the leaves and branches of the host plant. The eggs hatch in May.

Etymology

The species name refers to the dark greyish brown ground colour of the forewings.^[1]

Gallery

• 
  Larva: dorsal and ventral view
• 
  Larva on Triadica sebifera
• 
  Female pupa
• 
  Male pupa

References

1. A new species of Gadirtha Walker (Nolidae, Eligminae): a proposed biological control agent of Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) (Euphorbiaceae) in the United States