Two New Species of Green Flame Moths Discovered
Posted on October 30, 2013
Scientists have discovered two new species of green flame moths. The moths belong to the Parasa undulata group in the Limacodidae moth family (slug moths). The Parasa undulata moths are known for their beautiful green wing patterns and these newly discovered moths are no exception. The two new species, Parasa viridiflamma (pictured above) and Parasa minwangi described from China and Taiwan both have the green falme pattern typical for the group. The moths have an average wingspan of about 2 to 2.5 cm. They can be found mainly in mid-elevations of mountains.
The revision of this group in Taiwan and China, compiled by Shipher Wu, National Taiwan University and Weichun Chang, Council of Agriculture, Taiwan, also contains another interesting discovery. The scientists provided the first record of a caterpillar from the group feeding exclusively on pine trees, Picea morrisonicola, in Taiwan. The caterpillar, Parasa pygmy instar, can be seen on a pine tree in the image below.
Wu said in a statement, "This case represents the first record of conifer-feeding behavior in this family as well as the first specialist herbivore in the genus. Meanwhile, the background match between Picea leaves and larval colouration is shared with other Picea-feeding insects. This phenomenon is worth further investigation in the aspect of convergent evolution of crypsis, or camouflaging, associated with a particular plant."
The research was published here in ZooKeys.
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