Ophiusa tirhaca ( Cramer, 1777 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 347-348

Ophiusa tirhaca ( Cramer, 1777)

COMMON NAME (S): Green Drab moth.

SYNONYM(S): Noctua auricularis Ḩbner, 1803; Noctua tirrhaea Fabricius, 1781 ; Noctua vesta Esper, 1789 ; Ophiodes hottentota Guenée, 1852c ; Ophiodes separans Walker, 1858c ; Ophiusa clementi ( Swinhoe, 1918) ; Ophiusa obscura Pinker & Bacallado,1978 ; Ophiusa whitei Wiltshire, 1977 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Algeria, Australia, Cabo Verde, China, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Macaronesia , Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moluccas, Morocco, Namibia , New Caledonia, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Helena , Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Sulawesi, Syria , Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Vulcan Islands, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Lusaka and Kafue, in Lusaka Province; Mumbwa, in Central Province.

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Larval foodplants include five Anacardiaceae species (i.e. Pistacia vera L., Rhus laevigata L., Anacardium occidentale L., Ozoroa mucronata (Bernh. ex Krauss) R.Fern. & A.Fern. and Schinus mole L. ), two Myrtaceae species ( Eucalyptus sp. and Leptospermum laevigatum (Gaertn.) F.Muell. ), one Rutaceae species ( Citrus sp. ), one Combretaceae species ( Combretum molle R.Br. ex G.Don ), one Thymelaeaceae species ( Daphne sp. ), one Ericaceae species ( Erica sp. ), one Santalaceae species ( Osyris sp. ), one Pinaceae species ( Pinus radiata D.Don ), one Adoxaceae species ( Viburnum sp. ) and one Apocynaceae species ( Carissa edulis L.) ( African Moths 2019).

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Hampson 1910c.

Genus Pandesma Guenée, 1852b