Metephestia
Genus of moths
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Metephestia is a monotypic snout moth genus described by George Hampson in 1901. Its only species, Metephestia simplicula, was described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1881.[1] It is known from Colombia,[1] southern Florida,[2] Puerto Rico and the West Indies.
| Metephestia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pyralidae |
| Subfamily: | Phycitinae |
| Genus: | Metephestia Hampson in Ragonot, 1901 |
| Species: | M. simplicula |
| Binomial name | |
| Metephestia simplicula (Zeller, 1881) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
There are several generations per year.
The larvae feed on Indigofera species, including I. hirsuta, I. suffruticosa and I. tinctoria. Young larvae feed on unexpanded leaflets.[3]
