Description and life history of a new genus and species of Limacodidae (Lepidoptera, Zygaenoidea) from Taiwan, the first with a monkey-slug-like caterpillar from outside the New World

By

Lin, Yu-Chi
Lin, Rung-Juen
Epstein, Marc E.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-11-21

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1261

Pages

1--15

Subjects

Detachable tubercles , hag moth , immature , mimicry , monkey slug , Phrixolepia , Yufengus

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.155406

 

Abstract

<br> The genus<br> Yufengus<br> gen. nov.<br> is established for a new species of Limacodidae,<br> Y. atrophaneuroides<br> sp. nov.<br> Yufengus<br> is from Taiwan, yet its larva is similar to monkey-slug caterpillars in the New World (<br> Phobetron<br> Hübner, 1825: Limacodidae) in being covered with hairy, detachable tubercles. Monkey-slug caterpillars are currently known to form a monophyletic group which include as many as eight genera in the Americas referred to as the<br> Phobetron<br> complex by Epstein (1996). Although the larva of<br> Yufengus<br> appears, in particular, most similar to the genus<br> Phobetron<br> , a closer look at morphology reveals fundamental differences that are shared with Asian<br> Phrixolepia<br> Butler, 1877. Caterpillars of the new genus are structurally similar to<br> Phrixolepia<br> , but<br> Phrixolepia<br> is more translucent, less hairy, and differs in other characters including those of adults, separated by wing pattern and genitalia. In addition to describing the new genus<br> Yufengus<br> , we explore whether it is indeed in the same clade as the<br> Phobetron<br> complex of genera from the New World. The life history and morphology of adults and immature stages are described in this study.<br>