Family Arctiidae Order Butterflies and moths | Rank Species | |
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Similar Butterflies and moths, Chromolaena, Chromolaena odorata, Acalitus, Actinote | ||
Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata is a moth of the Arctiidae family. It was described by Rego Barros in 1956. It is found in Venezuela and Trinidad. It is an introduced species in Sri Lanka, as well as on Sabah, Borneo, Palawan and Guam.
Description
The wings and thorax are uniform pale yellow, the abdomen deep yellow with a dorsal row of black spots. Antennae of male bipectinated. Mid tibia clothed with very long hair. Fore wings with both antemedial and postmedial tufts on inner margin.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Chromolaena odorata. Defoliation causes most shoots of host plant to dry up. Continuous defoliation of new sprouts from basal clumps will result in total death of the bushes. The ground colour of the larvae is blackish, with interrupted narrow white stripes.
Since C. odorata is an invasive species, P pseudoinsulata has been used as a form of biological control.