Thysania agrippina is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Maria Sibylla Merian in her 1705 publication Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, and Pieter Cramer provided the formal description of the species in 1776. The most commonly accepted English name is the white witch. Other common names include the ghost moth, great gray witch and great owlet moth. Thysania agrippina is of interest as a competitor for title of "largest insect". This may be true by the measure of wingspan—a Brazilian specimen with a wingspan of almost 30 cm (12 in) appears to hold the record.[1] The Atlas moth and Hercules moth, however, have greater wing areas.[1] The white witch occurs from Uruguay to Mexico, and appears as a stray as far north as Texas in the U.S.[2] Collection dates shows no discernible pattern with respect to location or season.[3]
One story of the derivation of the common name: early naturalists collected specimens of birds and bats with shotguns. An enormous darting flyer high in the canopy was a tempting target. Firing a cloud of pellets at a white witch moth did not necessarily bring it down, however, because the body is small relative to the wing area. The moth would sail along, an unkillable witch.[4] This moth is of historical interest as the subject of a well-known painting by the artist Maria Sibylla Merian. Merian was an insightful naturalist who advanced the 18th-century understanding of insect life cycles; however, her depiction of the white witch life cycle does not match the actual biology of this species, as it depicts the larva of an unrelated moth.
Given the enormous geographic range of the adult, and observations that date back 300 years, it is striking that the immature life stages of this species have never been documented (notwithstanding the erroneous Merian painting). Long migratory flight is likely, given that the close relatives Thysania zenobia (the owl moth) and Ascalapha odorata (the black witch) are known for flights that reach far north of the host plant distributions. Based on the larval host plants recorded for the owl moth and black witch, the larval host plants for the white witch are probably also woody members of Fabaceae (subfamily Caesalpinioideae), possibly Senna and/or Cassia.[6]
White Witch Watch[7] is a project led by the lepidopterist David L. Wagner at the University of Connecticut, seeking to identify the immature stages of the white witch. A key strategy: to obtain a gravid female and attempt rearing on likely hosts. The participants maintain a website, and an active citizen science project on iNaturalist.
Taxonomic statusedit
Conventionally, "white witch" refers to two very similar species of Thysania listed in the GBIF database:[8]T. agrippina and T. pomponia (T. zenobia is a third morphologically distinct species). However, a 2016 publication[9] proposes a new species among the subset of moths previously identified as T. agrippina. Thysania winbrechiini is differentiated from T. agrippina by morphological features and DNA evidence. T. winbrechiini is further categorized as containing two subspecies, and the authors also define a subspecies of T. agrippina, T. agrippina siriae, though considered by some to be of dubious validity[10] in the case of this and several hundred other "Brechlin and Meister species", which are often proposed on the basis of DNA alone.[11]
^ abKons, Hugo Jr. (30 March 2000). . Book of Insect Records. University of Florida. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
^"Observation collection/observation localities of Thysania". Google My Maps.
^"Blog". White Witch Watch. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^"The search for the White Witch moth". Livinginperu.com. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2010). "Search the database - introduction and help". HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London.
^"The white witch, Thysania agrippina". White Witch Watch. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
^"Thysania Dalman, 1824". GBIF. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
^Brechlin, Ronald; Van Schayck, Eric (May 2016). "Three new taxa of Thysania Dalman, 1824 allied to T. agrippina (Cramer, 1776)". Satsphingia. 9 (2): 28–33.
^Jones, Benjamin (7 September 2017). "A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy". Smithsonian.
^"Brechlin & Meister Species". Breedingbutterflies.com. 5 April 2018.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thysania agrippina.
White Witch, Texas Entomology page authored by Mike Quinn
White Witch Watch, a project seeking to determine T. agrippina life history
thysania, agrippina, species, moth, family, erebidae, described, maria, sibylla, merian, 1705, publication, metamorphosis, insectorum, surinamensium, pieter, cramer, provided, formal, description, species, 1776, most, commonly, accepted, english, name, white, . Thysania agrippina is a species of moth in the family Erebidae It was described by Maria Sibylla Merian in her 1705 publication Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium and Pieter Cramer provided the formal description of the species in 1776 The most commonly accepted English name is the white witch Other common names include the ghost moth great gray witch and great owlet moth Thysania agrippina is of interest as a competitor for title of largest insect This may be true by the measure of wingspan a Brazilian specimen with a wingspan of almost 30 cm 12 in appears to hold the record 1 The Atlas moth and Hercules moth however have greater wing areas 1 The white witch occurs from Uruguay to Mexico and appears as a stray as far north as Texas in the U S 2 Collection dates shows no discernible pattern with respect to location or season 3 White witchScientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ArthropodaClass InsectaOrder LepidopteraSuperfamily NoctuoideaFamily ErebidaeGenus ThysaniaSpecies T agrippinaBinomial nameThysania agrippina Cramer 1776 SynonymsPhalaena agrippina Cramer 1776 Syrnia strix Hubner 1821 Contents 1 History 2 Ecology natural history 3 Taxonomic status 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editOne story of the derivation of the common name early naturalists collected specimens of birds and bats with shotguns An enormous darting flyer high in the canopy was a tempting target Firing a cloud of pellets at a white witch moth did not necessarily bring it down however because the body is small relative to the wing area The moth would sail along an unkillable witch 4 This moth is of historical interest as the subject of a well known painting by the artist Maria Sibylla Merian Merian was an insightful naturalist who advanced the 18th century understanding of insect life cycles however her depiction of the white witch life cycle does not match the actual biology of this species as it depicts the larva of an unrelated moth nbsp The larva illustrated by Maria Sibylla Merian 1647 1717 as Thysania agrippina is a sphingid probably Pachylia syces 5 Ecology natural history editGiven the enormous geographic range of the adult and observations that date back 300 years it is striking that the immature life stages of this species have never been documented notwithstanding the erroneous Merian painting Long migratory flight is likely given that the close relatives Thysania zenobia the owl moth and Ascalapha odorata the black witch are known for flights that reach far north of the host plant distributions Based on the larval host plants recorded for the owl moth and black witch the larval host plants for the white witch are probably also woody members of Fabaceae subfamily Caesalpinioideae possibly Senna and or Cassia 6 White Witch Watch 7 is a project led by the lepidopterist David L Wagner at the University of Connecticut seeking to identify the immature stages of the white witch A key strategy to obtain a gravid female and attempt rearing on likely hosts The participants maintain a website and an active citizen science project on iNaturalist Taxonomic status editConventionally white witch refers to two very similar species of Thysania listed in the GBIF database 8 T agrippina and T pomponia T zenobia is a third morphologically distinct species However a 2016 publication 9 proposes a new species among the subset of moths previously identified as T agrippina Thysania winbrechiini is differentiated from T agrippina by morphological features and DNA evidence T winbrechiini is further categorized as containing two subspecies and the authors also define a subspecies of T agrippina T agrippina siriae though considered by some to be of dubious validity 10 in the case of this and several hundred other Brechlin and Meister species which are often proposed on the basis of DNA alone 11 See also editAscalapha odorata the black witch List of largest insectsReferences edit a b Kons Hugo Jr 30 March 2000 Chapter 32 Largest Lepidopteran Wing Span Book of Insect Records University of Florida Archived from the original on 2 March 2008 Retrieved 21 October 2013 Observation collection observation localities of Thysania Google My Maps Blog White Witch Watch Retrieved 13 December 2018 The search for the White Witch moth Livinginperu com 12 June 2015 Retrieved 13 December 2018 White Witch Thysania agrippina Cramer 1776 texasento net Robinson Gaden S Ackery Phillip R Kitching Ian J Beccaloni George W Hernandez Luis M 2010 Search the database introduction and help HOSTS A Database of the World s Lepidopteran Hostplants Natural History Museum London The white witch Thysania agrippina White Witch Watch Retrieved 13 December 2018 Thysania Dalman 1824 GBIF Retrieved 5 January 2019 Brechlin Ronald Van Schayck Eric May 2016 Three new taxa of Thysania Dalman 1824 allied to T agrippina Cramer 1776 Satsphingia 9 2 28 33 Jones Benjamin 7 September 2017 A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy Smithsonian Brechlin amp Meister Species Breedingbutterflies com 5 April 2018 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thysania agrippina White Witch Texas Entomology page authored by Mike Quinn White Witch Watch a project seeking to determine T agrippina life historyPortals nbsp Insects nbsp Arthropods nbsp Animals nbsp Biology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thysania agrippina amp oldid 1141194389, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
