Zale lafontainei - Hodges#8685
Zale lafontainei
This record describes Zale lafontainei (species). Recorded family: Erebidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.
Identification and Appearance
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- Superfamily
- Noctuoidea
- Family
- Erebidae
- Subfamily
- Erebinae
- Tribe
- Omopterini
- Genus
- Zale
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
Additional species information
Species notes from the sources
Etymology: Zale lafontainei Troubridge, 2020 was included in the Hodges 1983 Checklist as 8685 Zale viridans . Schmidt & Lafontaine (per. comm., 8/1/2017) advises that this undescribed species, seemingly related to Z. erilda from Puerto Rico, is currently known only from FL. True Z. viridans is extralimital to North America north of Mexico and was removed from the list in Lafontaine & Schmidt 2015. This species includes as synonyms Zale viridans of authors, not (Guenée, 1852), Zale obsita of authors, not (Guenée, 1852), and Zale strigimacula of authors, not (Guenée, 1852). ( Zale sp. nr. erildas is represented at BOLD under the name Zale n. sp. 5 in BOLD:ACD9041, a BIN which includes examples of Z. erilda from Puerto Rico.)
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Zale lafontainei. 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.