Adscita

Adscita is a palaearctic genus of moths of the family Zygaenidae, raised by the Swedish entomologist, Anders Jahan Retzius in 1783. The larvae feed on Cistaceae, Compositae, Globulariaceae and Polygonaceae.

Selected species

Adscita from adscitus, meaning adopted or enrolled was originally a Carl Linnaeus name. Linnaeus divided the hawk-moths into four groups, three of which he called the true hawk-moths and the fourth, ″a group of seven hangers-on, in default of a better position″. In 1783 Retzius was the first to use Adscita as a genus and he kept two of these moths in the Adscita, i.e. statices and filipendulae (which was later assigned to Zygaena. Of the two synonyms for Adscita; the Danish zoologist, Fabricius erected Procris as a genus in 1807. Procris was the daughter of Erechtheus and wife of Cephalus. A second synonyom is Ino.