Eudesmia menea - Hodges#8097
Eudesmia menea
This record describes Eudesmia menea (species). Recorded family: Erebidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.
Identification and Appearance
The basis for inclusion of Eudesmia menea in the North American fauna is tenuous. For a time in the first half of the 20th Century Eudesmia arida was synonymized (wrongly) under E. menea , thus the many records in AZ and TX were for a time listed under the latter name. However, in the Hodges 1983 Checklist, Franclemont listed E. arida separately as a member of the fauna (#8096), presumably refering to the AZ and TX records. Franclemont also listed 8097 Eudesmia laetifera (Walker, 1865), rev. stat., n. record along with E. latifasciatus (Butler, 1875) as a synonym. Laetifera had previously been listed (under other genera) as a synonym or aberration of E. menea , occurring in Mexico and Central America. The same was true for latifasciatus (Draudt 1918, Strand 1922). At present, I can find no valid records of true Eudesmia menea in the U.S. (e.g. AZ, TX, or FL) on BugGuide, iNaturalist, MPG, BOLD, SCAN, or GBIF. The barcoded records of E. menea in the U.S. on BOLD are readily identifiable as E. arida . I'm trying to track down the basis for including Florida in the range of E. menea .--CWS
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- Superfamily
- Noctuoidea
- Family
- Erebidae
- Subfamily
- Arctiinae
- Tribe
- Lithosiini
- Genus
- Eudesmia
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
Habitat and Range
Geographic Range
Southern Texas, Florida; Mexico to Columbia. [But see Remarks, below.]
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Eudesmia menea. 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.