Meharia
Meharia is a genus of moths belonging to the family Cossidae.
| Meharia | |
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| Meharia hackeri female | |
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| Subfamily: | Mehariinae Yakovlev, 2011 |
| Genus: | Meharia Chrétien, 1915 |
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Diagnosis
Meharia is distinguished from all other Cossidae genus by a number of apomorphous characters: the specific “tineoid appearance”, the reduction of the lateral processes of the juxta, the specific dorsolateral sclerotization of the asymmetric aedeagus and the specific ribbon – like epiphysis.
Description
These are small to medium sized moths, females larger; eyes naked; male and female antennae bipectinate along their length; proboscis reduced; legs long, slender; foretibia bearing a ribbon-like epiphysis; forewing elongate, rounded on the outer margin; forewing pattern has alternate dark and pale spots and bands transversely; hindwing uniform.
Distribution
Eleven species have been reported so far, primarily from the deserts and arid mountains of the Western Palearctic and Africa.
Species
- Meharia acuta Wiltshire, 1982
- Meharia avicenna Yakovlev, 2011
- Meharia fischeri Yakovlev & Saldaitis, 2008
- Meharia hackeri Saldaitis, Ivinskis & Yakovlev, 2011
- Meharia incurvariella Chrétien, 1915
- Meharia incurvariella incurvariella Chrétien, 1915
- Meharia incurvariella persica (Wiltshire, 1946)
- Meharia murphyi Yakovlev, 2013
- Meharia philbyi Bradley, 1952
- Meharia scythica D. Komarov et Zolotuhin, 2005
- Meharia semilactea (Warren et Rothschild, 1905)
- Meharia tancredii Sutton, 1963
- Meharia tanganyikae Bradley, 1952
- Meharia yakovlevi Saldaitis & Ivinskis, 2010
References
- Cossidae of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)
- Yakovlev & Murphy, 2013. The Cossidae (Lepidoptera) of Malawi with descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa 3709 (4): 371–393