Laetilia coccidivora
| Laetilia coccidivora | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pyralidae |
| Genus: | Laetilia |
| Species: | L. coccidivora |
| Binomial name | |
| Laetilia coccidivora (Comstock, 1879)[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Scale-feeding Snout Moth (Laetilia coccidivora) is a species of snout moth in the genus Laetilia. It was described by Staudinger in 1870. It is found in the southern United States, including California, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.
The larvae are predatory on Coccidae species. They feed on the eggs and young. It uses carminic acid, acquired from its prey, as a defence against its own predators.[3]
References
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/24/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.