Cangetta hartoghialis (Snellen, 1872)
 (one synonym : Cangetta rectilinea Moore, 1886)
SPILOMELINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Parapoynx hartoghialis
male
(Photo: courtesy of Bart Hacobian, Cape Tribulation, Queensland)

The adult moths of this species are dark brown, with a vague white triangle on the costa of each forewing. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

Parapoynx hartoghialis
drawing by Pieter C. T. Snellen, listed as Parapoynx hartoghialis,
Bijdrage tot de Vlinder-fauna van Neder-Guinea,
Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, Volume 15 (1872), Plate VII, fig. 6,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

The species now called Cangetta hartoghialis was described by Snellen from the above specimen taken in Neder Guinea (now Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa).

The next specimen named Cangetta rectilinea by Moore from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and later specimens from China and Australia, are currently thought to be the same species, but DNA evidence may yet prove they are different.

Cangetta rectilinea
drawing by Frederic Moore, listed as Cangetta rectilinea,
The Lepidoptera of Ceylon, L. Reeve, London, 1886, Plate 182 fig. 8,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Thus currently the species is thought to occur in :

  • China,
  • Democratic Republic of Congo, and
  • Sri Lanka,

    and in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Parapoynx hartoghialis
    drawing by George F. Hampson, listed as Parapoynx griseolalis    ,
    Illustrations of typical specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the British Museum,
    Part 9 (1893), Plate CLXXIV, fig. 12,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The underside is similar to the upper surface.

    Parapoynx hartoghialis
    underside
    drawing by Pieter C. T. Snellen, listed as Parapoynx hartoghialis    ,
    Bijdrage tot de Vlinder-fauna van Neder-Guinea,
    Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, Volume 15 (1872), Plate VII, fig. 7,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    Further reading :

    George Francis Hampson,
    The Macrolepidoptera Heterocera of Ceylon,
    Illustrations of typical specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the British Museum,
    Part 9 (1893), p. 176, and also Plate 174, fig. 12.

    Frederic Moore,
    The Lepidoptera of Ceylon,
    L. Reeve, London, 1886, pp. 314-315, and also Plate 182 fig. 8.

    Pieter Cornelius Tobias Snellen,
    Bijdrage tot de Vlinder-fauna van Neder-Guinea,
    Tijdschrift voor Entomologie,
    Volume 15 (1872), pp. 97-98, No. 84, and also Plate 7, figs. 6, 7.
    (erroneously listed as figs. 14, 15 in Snellen's article)

    Charles Swinhoe,
    On Indian and Australian moths,
    The Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
    Series 7, Volume 8 (1901), p. 135.

    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (written 24 March 2015, updated 25 June 2018)