Rhesala moestalis ( Walker, 1866a )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 326

Rhesala moestalis ( Walker, 1866a)

COMMON NAME (S): Fruit-piercing Moth or Erebid moth. SYNONYM(S): Hingula figurata Moore, 1885 ; Apphadana fuscula von Heyden, 1891 ; Rimulia malgassica von Heyden, 1891 ; Pyralomorpha inscripta Rebel, 1917 ; Rhesala nyasica Hampson, 1926 ; Cerynea ragazzii Berio, 1937 ; Cerynea tetramelanosticta Berio, 1954 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia , Nigeria, Oman, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia,

South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Lusaka, in Lusaka Province; Mumbwa, in Central Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Three Fabaceae species ( Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth., Acacia tortilis and Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi ) in Kenya ( Agassiz & Harper 2009; Martiré & Rochat 2008), two Fabaceae species ( Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. and Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth) in the Réunion ( Bippus 2018; Martiré & Rochat

2008) and one Fabaceae species ( Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth) in Madagascar ( Bippus 2018) are host plants of the taxon. In addition to this, the African Moths webpage reports Coffea sp. (Rubiaceae) , Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae ) as larval foodplants of the taxon.,

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

Genus Saroba Walker, 1865c