Pseudohemihyalea

Pseudohemihyalea
Adult male red-banded aemilia (P. ambigua)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Subfamily: Arctiinae
Subtribe: Phaegopterina
Genus: Pseudohemihyalea
Régo Barros, 1956
Type species
Hemihyalea schausi (see text)
Rothschild, 1909
Diversity
Some 20–30 species

Pseudohemihyalea is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae described by Régo Barros in 1956. While the caterpillars of most species of Pseudohemihyalea feed on broad-leaved trees (e.g. oaks, Quercus), the P. ambigua group has larvae that feed on conifers. Their forewing coloration has accordingly evolved to light-and-dark lengthwise striping, giving better camouflage among the slim needles of the host plants. In this, they seem to be convergent to certain geometer moths, such as Caripeta piniata or Sabulodes niveostriata.