Simplicia extinctalis ( Zeller, 1852 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 355-356

Simplicia extinctalis ( Zeller, 1852)

COMMON NAME(S): Litter moth.

SYNONYM(S): Simplicia inarcualis Guenée, 1854 ; Sophronia capalis Walker, 1859a ; Zanclognatha caffraria M̂schler, 1884; Simplicia inareolalis Fryer, 1912 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Réunion, Saint Helena, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Livingstone, in Southern Province; Kafue and Lusaka, in Lusaka Province.

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): A yet to be identified Geraniaceae species ( Pelargonium sp. ) is a host plant of the taxon in Saint Helena ( Karisch, 2001), while an Anacardiaceae species ( Mangifera indica L.) and a Cannabaceae species ( Cannabis sativa L.) are host plants of the taxon in the Réunion ( Bippus 2016b, 2018). Larval foodplants of the taxon also include two Fabaceae species (i.e. Acacia mearnsi De Wild. and Medicago sativa L.), an Oleaceae species ( Olea sp. ). a Rubiaceae species ( Coffea sp. ) and a Proteaceae species ( Macadamia sp. ).

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; Bippus 2016b; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Hampson 1910c; Karisch, 2001; Hacker 2021.