Dunama

Taxonomy

Schaus established the genus Dunama in 1912 for a group of small, relatively drab, mottled and tree-bark patterned, brown notodontid moths with a black orbicular spot. Todd revised the genus whose distribution extends from Mexico to Amazonian Brazil in 1976. He described two new species and listed two species, D. angulinea and D. tuna from Costa Rica. One additional species was recently described by Miller and Thiaucourt from Ecuador in 2011. The genus traditionally has been placed in the Nystaleinae, but that placement remains provisional because species of Dunama lack the characteristic morphological traits of most nystaleines. Additionally, all known caterpillars of Dunama feed on monocots (Musaceae, Marantaceae, Heliconiaceae, Arecaceae), a trait rarely encountered in the Notodontidae.

Species