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Dryadaula terpsichorella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dancing moth
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Tineidae
Genus: Dryadaula
Species:
D. terpsichorella
Binomial name
Dryadaula terpsichorella
(Busck, 1910)
Synonyms
  • Cyane terpsichorella Busck, 1910
  • Choropleca terpsichorella
  • Diachalastis tetraglossa Meyrick, 1920

Dryadaula terpsichorella, the dancing moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae. It is native to south-eastern Polynesia, Samoa and Fiji, but has also been recorded from Hawaii and more recently from Florida and California. The common name is derived from the characteristic dancelike gyrations it goes through when it alights. It was first described by August Busck in 1910.

Larvae have been found among dead leaves and on other parts of banana, Costus spicatus, ferns, Pandanus, pineapple, sugarcane and other plants.

[edit]
  • Zimmerman, Elwood C. (1978). Insects of Hawaii. Vol. 9 Microlepidoptera. The University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu. hdl:10125/7338.