Acanthotoca graefii - Hodges#6920
Acanthotoca graefii
This record describes Acanthotoca graefii (species). Recorded family: Geometridae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.
Identification and Appearance
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- Superfamily
- Geometroidea
- Family
- Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
- Subfamily
- Ennominae
- Tribe
- Ourapterygini
- Genus
- Acanthotoca
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
Habitat and Range
Geographic Range
Known from Seminole Canyon State Park, Val Verde County, Texas and southern Texas.
Additional species information
Species notes from the sources
Etymology: Specific epithet in honor of Edward Louis Graef (d.1922), one of the founders of the Brooklyn Entomological Society. In his history of the society, Graef joked that a large percentage of moths named for him and his friend J.B. Smith ultimately did not survive. Smith wrote of the new genus and species Graefia smithii , "if anything will kill this genus it is the combination of names." He was half right. Graefia is now a junior synonym of Animomyia but J.B. Smith lives on as Animomyia smithii .
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Acanthotoca graefii. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
Lepidoptera includes approximately 180,000 described species of butterflies and moths. Moths outnumber butterflies roughly 10:1. The monarch butterfly's eastern population has declined by more than 80% since the mid-1990s, and the western population by over 95% since the 1980s. The IUCN lists the migratory monarch as Vulnerable.
Ecological role of the group
Butterflies and moths are essential indicators of ecosystem health. As caterpillars, they are a primary food source for birds - a single nest of blue tit chicks requires ~10,000 caterpillars. Adult moths pollinate many night-blooming plants.
Economic and practical significance of the group
Lepidoptera are critical pollinators. In Europe, grassland butterfly species have declined by almost 50% since the early 1990s. In the UK, three-quarters of butterflies are in decline. In the U.S., five butterfly species have gone extinct since 1950, with 29 listed as endangered.
Recorded sources for this group: IUCN Red List, Xerces Society, USFWS, PNAS, WWF. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.
Photos of Acanthotoca graefii - Hodges#6920 (5)
Photo credits: Contributed by Maury J. Heiman; Additional contributions by Randy Hardy , Kyhl Austin