Ctenucha multifaria - Hodges#8263

Ctenucha multifaria

This record describes Ctenucha multifaria (species). Recorded family: Erebidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.

Identification and Appearance

Ctenucha multifaria - Hodges#8263 - Ctenucha multifaria — Contributed by Maury J. Heiman; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff

Distal tip and entire costal edge of forewing narrowly white-marginned. Patagia ** entirely black. ** patagia = pair of small articulated plates, one on each side of the dorsum of the prothorax. The patagia are visible in front of the wing bases and mesonotum...and immediately behind the head. (Caution: They can be mistaken as the posterior portion of the head!)

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Subfamily: Arctiinae
Tribe: Arctiini
Genus: Ctenucha

Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.

Habitat and Range

Geographic Range

California

About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group

Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Ctenucha multifaria. 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.

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