Herculia nigrivitta (Walker, 1863) (formerly known as Cisse nigrivitta) PYRALINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

(Photo: courtesy of Subhajit Roy, Durgapur, India) listed as Hypsopygia nigrivitta,

The caterpillars of this species are a pest, feeding on dry plant stems used in Thatch Roofs.

The wings of the adult of this species are brown, with variable shading and pattern, often with a dark line along the forewing costa, and a vague pale submarginal arc on each wing. The female moths have a wingspan of about 2 cms. The males have a wingspan of about 1.5 cms. The resting moths are inclined to curl the abdomen up.

(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The species is fairly widespread in south-east Asia, including

Northern Territory.

drawing by Pieter C. T. Snellen, listed as Asopia fuscicostalis,
Nieuwe Pyraliden op Celebes Gevonden, Tijdschrift voor Entomologie,
Volume 23 (1880), Plate 6, fig. 4,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

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Further reading :

Pieter Cornelius Tobias Snellen,
Nieuwe Pyraliden op Celebes Gevonden,
Tijdschrift voor Entomologie,
Volume 23 (1880), p. 199, and also Plate 6, fig. 4.

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 27 (1863), p. 125.

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(written 22 March 2015, updated 26 January 2022)