Catocala


Catocala is a generally Holarctic genus of moths in the family Erebidae. The genus was erected by Franz von Paula Schrank in 1802. The moths are commonly known as underwing moths or simply underwings. These terms are sometimes used for [|a few related moths], but usually – especially when used in plural, not as part of a species name – they are used to refer to Catocala only.
Of the more than 250 known species, slightly less than half are found in North America – mostly in the United States – while the rest occur in Eurasia. About one-fifth of these species are native to Europe. A few species occur in the northern Neotropics and Indomalaya.

Description and ecology

Most species of Catocala have medium to large adults, cryptically coloured except for the hindwings, which are marked with stripes in orange, red, white, or even blue. In some, the hindwings are mostly blackish. Unlike what the common name "underwings" seems to suggest, the colour is brightest on the upperside. However, the bright hindwings are not visible at rest, being hidden under the dull forewings – hence the name. Due to their diversity and variety of colors and patterns, underwing moths are popular with collectors of Lepidoptera.
In, The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II, the genus described as follows.
It is believed that the bright colors, arranged in usually roughly concentric markings, at a casual glance resemble the eyes of a predatory animal, such as a cat. An underwing moth, well camouflaged in its daytime resting spot on a tree trunk or branch, will suddenly flash open the hindwings when disturbed. A bird or other small predator that is not used to this display is likely to be frightened, allowing the moth to escape. However, unlike some other bright-colored moths which are bad-tasting or even poisonous to predators, underwing moths are well palatable at least to some birds. To assist in avoiding nocturnal predators such as bats, these moths also possess fairly well-developed hearing organs.
File:Catocala ilia.jpg|thumb|left|Caterpillar of the beloved underwing
The caterpillars of most species feed on the leaves of woody plants, usually trees but sometimes shrubs. Typical food plants are Fagales of the families Betulaceae, Fagaceae and Juglandaceae – mainly hickory, oak and walnut tree species, as well as others such as alder, beech, birch and chestnut. The caterpillars of numerous Old World and some North American species feed on the Salicaceae Populus and Salix, which belong to the Malpighiales. Less common larval food plants of Catocala are for example elms and various Rosaceae of the Rosales, Tilia of the Malvales, or some Fabaceae of the Fabales; as the preceding, these all belong to the Fabidae lineage of rosid eudicots. More unusually, underwing moth caterpillars have also been found to feed on such plants as maple which belongs to a distant lineage of rosids, as well as on such plants as ash trees and blueberries which are asterids and quite unrelated to the other food plants by eudicot standards.
The adults are predominantly nocturnal, flying from shortly after dusk right up to daybreak. They are generally most active about two hours after nightfall. However, several if not all species of underwing moths have a second activity period exactly around noon, during which they are also regularly found on the wing for about 1–2 hours each day.
The genus name Catocala roughly means "beautiful hindwings". It is a combination of two Ancient Greek words, kato, and kalos.

Classification

There are over 250 species in this genus. The species of Catocala are here divided into a Eurasian group, and another one which is found in North America. This does not imply actual relationships; it is mainly done to more conveniently deal with the large number of species. Still, it is not unlikely at all that the groups consist at least to some extent of closely related species.
There are several cryptic species complexes in Catocala, e.g. the group around the Delilah underwing ; these and other hitherto unknown species are still being discovered and described in some numbers. Thus, resolving the phylogeny and taxonomy of the underwing moths is an ongoing effort, which has made little progress. In the scientific literature, smaller subdivisions into putatively related species are sometimes applied, but there is no consistent and widely accepted taxonomic treatment for the genus as a whole.

Synonyms

Several distinct genera have formally been proposed for splitting from Catocala, but these are all treated here as junior synonyms. These synonyms and other invalid names of Catocala are:
  • Andreusia Hampson, 1913
  • Andrewsia Grote, 1882
  • Astiodes
  • Astiotes Hübner, 1823
  • Belpharidia
  • Bihemena Beck, 1966
  • Blephara Ochsenheimer, 1816
  • Blepharidia Hübner, 1822
  • Blepharonia Hübner, 1823
  • Blepharonia Hübner, 1825
  • Blepharum Hübner, 1806
  • Catabapta Hulst, 1884
  • Catacola
  • Catocalla
  • Convercala Beck, 1966
  • Corisce Hübner, 1823
  • Corisee
  • Divercala Beck, 1966
  • Ephesia Hübner, 1818
  • Eucala Beck, 1966
  • Eucora Hübner, 1823
  • Eunetis Hübner, 1823
  • Hemigeometra Haworth, 1809
  • Koraia Nye, 1975
  • Lamprosia Hübner,
  • Lamprosia Hübner, 1827
  • Metacala Beck, 1966
  • Mormonia Hübner, 1823
  • Mormosia
  • Optocala Beck, 1966
  • Promonia Beck, 1966
  • Puercala Beck, 1966
  • Reticcala Beck, 1966
  • Simplicala Beck, 1966

    [Palearctic] species

  • Catocala abacta Staudinger, 1900
  • Catocala abamita Bremer & Grey, 1853
  • Catocala actaea Felder & Rogenhofer, 1874
  • Catocala adultera Ménétries, 1856
  • Catocala aenigma Sheljuzhko, 1943
  • Catocala aestimabilis Staudinger, 1892
  • Catocala afghana Swinhoe, 1885
  • Catocala agitatrix Graeser, 1889
  • Catocala amabilis Bang-Haas, 1907
  • Catocala amnonfreidbergi Kravchenko et al., 2008
  • Catocala ariana Vartian, 1964
  • Catocala armandi Poujade, 1888
  • Catocala artobolevskiji Sheljuzhko, 1943
  • Catocala bella Butler, 1877
  • Catocala bokhaica
  • Catocala borthi Saldaitis, Ivinskis, Floriani & Babics, 2012
  • Catocala brandti Hacker & Kautt, 1999
  • Catocala butleri Leech, 1900
  • Catocala catei Weisert, 1998
  • Catocala chenyixini Ishizuka, 2011
  • Catocala columbina Leech, 1900
  • Catocala coniuncta – Minsmere crimson underwing
  • Catocala connexa Wileman, 1911
  • Catocala contemnenda Staudinger, 1891
  • Catocala conversa
  • Catocala danilovi Bang-Haas, 1927
  • Catocala dariana Sviridov, Speidel, Reshöft, 1996
  • Catocala davidi Oberthür, 1881
  • Catocala deducta Eversmann, 1843
  • Catocala dejeani Mell, 1936
  • Catocala desiderata Staudinger, 1888
  • Catocala detrita Warren, 1913
  • Catocala deuteronympha Staudinger, 1861
  • Catocala dilecta Hübner,
  • Catocala disjuncta
  • Catocala dissimilis Bremer, 1861
  • Catocala distorta Butler, 1889
  • Catocala diversa
  • Catocala doerriesi Staudinger, 1888
  • Catocala dotatoides Poole, 1989
  • Catocala dula Bremer, 1861
  • Catocala duplicata Butler, 1885
  • Catocala editarevayae Kravchenko et al., 2008
  • Catocala electa – rosy underwing
  • Catocala ella Butler, 1877
  • Catocala ellamajor Ishizuka, 2010
  • Catocala elocata – French red underwing
  • Catocala eminens Staudinger, 1892
  • Catocala eutychea Treitschke, 1835
  • Catocala flavescens Hampson, 1894
  • Catocala florianii Saldaitis & Ivinskis, 2008
  • Catocala formosana Okano, 1958
  • Catocala fraxini – blue underwing, Clifden nonpareil
  • Catocala fredi Bytinsky-Salz & Brandt, 1937
  • Catocala fugitiva Warren, 1914
  • Catocala fulminea
  • Catocala fuscinupta Hampson, 1913
  • Catocala gansan Ishizuka & M. Wang, 2013
  • Catocala giuditta Schawerda, 1934
  • Catocala haitzi Bang-Haas, 1936
  • Catocala hariti Ishizuka & Ohshima, 2002
  • Catocala helena Eversmann, 1856
  • Catocala hoenei Mell, 1936
  • Catocala hoferi Ishizuka & Ohshima, 2003
  • Catocala hymenaea
  • Catocala hymenoides Draeseke, 1927
  • Catocala hyperconnexa Sugi, 1965
  • Catocala inconstans Butler, 1889
  • Catocala infasciata Mell, 1936
  • Catocala intacta Leech, 1889
  • Catocala invasa Leech, 1900
  • Catocala jansseni A. E. Prout, 1924
  • Catocala jonasii Butler, 1877
  • Catocala jouga Ishizuka, 2003
  • Catocala juncta Staudinger, 1889
  • Catocala jyoka Ishizuka, 2006
  • Catocala kaki Ishizuka, 2003
  • Catocala kasenko Ishizuka, 2007
  • Catocala koreana Staudinger, 1892
  • Catocala kotschubeyi Sheljuzhko, 1927
  • Catocala kuangtungensis Mell, 1931
  • Catocala kusnezovi Püngeler, 1914
  • Catocala lara Bremer, 1861
  • Catocala largeteaui Oberthür, 1881
  • Catocala laura Speidel, Ivinskis & Saldaitis, 2008
  • Catocala leechi Hampson, 1913
  • Catocala lehmanni Speidel, Ivinskis & Saldaitis, 2008
  • Catocala lesbia Christoph, 1887
  • Catocala longipalpis Mell, 1936
  • Catocala lupina Herrich-Schäffer,
  • Catocala luscinia Brandt, 1938
  • Catocala maculata Vincent, 1919
  • Catocala mariana
  • Catocala martyrum Oberthür, 1881
  • Catocala maso Ishizuka, 2011
  • Catocala mesopotamica
  • Catocala mirifica Butler, 1877
  • Catocala moltrechti Bang-Haas, 1927
  • Catocala musmi
  • Catocala naganoi Sugi, 1982
  • Catocala nagioides
  • Catocala naumanni Sviridov, 1996
  • Catocala neglecta
  • Catocala neonympha Esper, 1805
  • Catocala nivea Butler, 1877
  • Catocala nubila
  • Catocala nupta – red underwing
  • Catocala nymphaea
  • Catocala nymphaeoides Herrich-Schäffer, 1852
  • Catocala nymphagoga – oak yellow underwing
  • Catocala oberthueri Austaut, 1879
  • Catocala obscena Alphéraky, 1879
  • Catocala ohshimai Ishizuka, 2001
  • Catocala olgaorlovae
  • Catocala optata
  • Catocala optima – Turanga underwing
  • Catocala pacta
  • Catocala paki Kishida, 1981
  • Catocala patala Felder & Rogenhofer, 1874
  • Catocala pataloides
  • Catocala persimilis
  • Catocala pirata
  • Catocala praegnax Walker, 1858
  • Catocala prolifica Walker, 1857
  • Catocala promissa – light crimson underwing
  • Catocala proxeneta Alphéraky, 1895
  • Catocala pudica Moore, 1879
  • Catocala pudica sabine Saldaitis, Pekarsky & Borth 2014
  • Catocala puella
  • Catocala puerpera
  • Catocala puerperoides
  • Catocala remissa
  • Catocala repudiata
  • Catocala rhodosoma Röber, 1927
  • Catocala seibaldi Saldaitis, Ivinskis & Borth, 2010
  • Catocala seiohbo
  • Catocala separans
  • Catocala separata
  • Catocala sinyaevi Sviridov, 2004
  • Catocala solntsevi
  • Catocala sponsa – dark crimson underwing
  • Catocala sponsalis
  • Catocala stamensis Kishida & Suzuki, 2002
  • Catocala streckeri
  • Catocala sultana
  • Catocala svetlana Sviridov, 1997
  • Catocala szechuena
  • Catocala tapestrina Moore, 1882
  • Catocala thomsoni A. E. Prout, 1924
  • Catocala timur – Timur underwing
  • Catocala tokui
  • Catocala toropovi Saldaitis, Kons & Borth, 2014
  • Catocala triphaenoides Oberthür, 1881
  • Catocala uljanae Sinyaev, Saldaitis & Ivinskis, 2007
  • Catocala viviannae
  • Catocala weigerti Hacker, 1999
  • Catocala wushensis
  • Catocala xarippe Butler, 1877
  • Catocala xizangensis Chen, 1991
'''Comparison of Eurasian species'''