Cometaster
Genus of moths
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cometaster is a monotypic moth genus of the family Erebidae erected by George Hampson in 1913.[1] Its only species, Cometaster pyrula, the faint owl moth or ying-yang moth, was first described by Carl Heinrich Hopffer in 1857.[2][3]
| Faint owl moth | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Erebidae |
| Tribe: | Hypopyrini |
| Genus: | Cometaster Hampson, 1913 |
| Species: | C. pyrula |
| Binomial name | |
| Cometaster pyrula (Hopffer, 1857) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Generic Specific
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Distribution
It is found in Eastern and Southern Africa, mainly in Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[2]
Biological control agent
In October 2004, as part of a biological control project, larvae of this moth from South Africa were released in Queensland, Australia, in order to keep under control the type of acacia Acacia nilotica subsp. indica, a major invasive species in the Mitchell Grass Downs.[4]
