Cabera Explained

Cabera is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae described by Georg Friedrich Treitschke in 1825.

Description

These moths are widely distributed in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Neotropic and Afrotropic regions, and a few in Indo-Australian regions.^[1] However, it is absent in Australia itself.^[2]

In the afrotropical region, 12 species have been recorded, though their placement in Cabera remains uncertain due to their variable physical charcteristics. Among these is a monophyletic group, Cabera subalba group, which is distinct on the basis of its uniform appearance.^[3]

Some species were originally classified under Petelia and Gyalomia due to striking similarities.

Selected species

This genus presently includes 30 species.^[4] In alphabetical order:^[5]

• Cabera aquaemontana (Prout, 1913)
• Cabera borealis (Hulst, 1896)  - boreal cream
• Cabera candidaria (Leech, 1897)
• Cabera elarina (Prout, 1913)
• Cabera erythemaria (Guenée, 1857)  - yellow-dusted cream
• Cabera exanthemata (Scopoli, 1763)  - common wave
• Cabera griseolimbata (Oberthür, 1879)
• Cabera humbloti (Herbulot, 1978)
• Cabera leptographa (Wehrli, 1939)
• Cabera limbata (Herbulot, 1954)
• Cabera nathaliae (Herbulot, 1991)
• Cabera neodora (Prout, 1922)
• Cabera nevillei
• Cabera pseudognophos (Prout, 1917)
• Cabera purus (Butler, 1878)
• Cabera pusaria (Linnaeus, 1758)  - common white wave
• Cabera quadrifasciaria (Packard, 1873)  - four-lined cream
• Cabera schaefferi (Bremer, 1864)
• Cabera strigata (Warren, 1897)
• Cabera sulbaba (Warren, 1901)
• Cabera toulgoeti (Herbulot, 1957)
• Cabera variolaria (Guenée, 1857)  - the vestal

Etymology

Treitschke, a German lepidopterist, raised the genus in 1825; Cabera refers to Cabeiro, who was the daughter of Proteus ″the prophetic old man of the sea who kept changing his shape to avoid being caught and having to make prophesies″.^[6]

References

• Web site: Pitkin . Brian . Jenkins . Paul . amp . Search results Family: Geometridae . Butterflies and Moths of the World . Natural History Museum, London.

Notes and References

1. Book: Holloway, J.D. . The moths of Borneo. Part 11, Geometridae, Ennominae . The Malaysian Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur . 1994 . 11.
2. Book: Nielsen, E.S. . Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia . Edwards . E.D. . Rangsi . T.V. . CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood . Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera . 4 . 1996 . 529.
3. Krüger . M. . 2000 . A REVIEW OF THE AFROTROPICAL CABERA SUBALBA GROUP, WITH DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST SOUTHERN AFRICAN SPECIES (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE: ENNOMINAE) . Metamosphosis . The Lepidopterists' Society of Africa . 11 . 3 . 111-121.
4. Book: Scoble, M.J. (Ed.) . Geometrid moths of the world: A catalogue . CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood . The Natural History Museum, London . 1999 . 1-2.
5. Web site: Savela . Markku . Cabera Treitschke, 1825 . Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms . March 26, 2019.
6. Book: Emmet . A Maitland . A. Maitland Emmet . The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their History and Meaning . 1991 . . Colchester . 0 946589 28 3 . 183.