Zale strigimacula - Hodges#8686
Zale strigimacula
This record describes Zale strigimacula (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 strigimacula (Guenée, 1852), known only from southern TX and south, is returned to the list (Schmidt & Lafontaine, per. comm., 8/1/2017) after having previously been removed in Lafontaine & Schmidt 2015. The identity of this species is tentatively fixed based in part on type locality. (It is possible that 8686.2 Zale sp. nr. strigimacula is true Z. strigimacula , however, that species is unknown from Brazil.) Reports from TX of Z. obsita , an extralimital species now removed from the list, originally described from Brazil and also recorded from the Galapagos, refer to this species or to 8686.2 Zale sp. nr. strigimacula . Reports of Z. strigimacula from FL refer to 8685 Zale sp. nr. erilda , an undescribed species seemingly related to Z. erilda from Puerto Rico. ( Z. strigimacula is tentatively represented at BOLD in BIN BOLD:AAD0033 under the name Z. strigimacula .)
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Zale strigimacula. 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 Zale strigimacula - Hodges#8686 (5)
Photo credits: Contributed by Steve Nanz