Urania fulgens
| Urania swallowtail moth | |
|---|---|
| |
| Urania fulgens - MHNT | |
| |
| Urania fulgens △ - MHNT | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | U. fulgens
|
| Binomial name | |
| Urania fulgens (Walker, 1854)
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Urania fulgens, the urania swallowtail moth, is a day-flying moth of the Uraniidae family. It is found from Veracruz, Mexico, through Central America to northwestern South America (west of the Andes and south to Ecuador).[1][2] It is highly migratory and has been recorded as a vagrant to Texas, USA.[2]
It is sometimes confused with the similar U. leilus, but that species is found east of the Andes in South America, is slightly larger, and has more white to the "tail".[1] The two have been treated as conspecific.[1]
As appears to be the case for all Urania, the larvae of U. fulgens feed exclusively on the toxic Omphalea species.[3]
References
- ^ a b c Smith, N.G. (1972). Migrations of the day-flying moth Urania in Central and South America. Caribbean Journal of Science 12: 45-58
- ^ a b Quinn, M. (2011). Urania Natural History. Texas Lep Information. Accessed 12 October 2011.
- ^ Lees, D.C. and N.G. Smith (1991). Foodplant Associations of the Uraniinae (Uraniidae) and their Systematic, Evolutionary, and Ecological Significance. Archived 2012-08-02 at the Wayback Machine Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 45(4): 296-347.