Scea
James S. Miller and Andrew V. Z. Brower
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close boxIntroduction
The genus Scea is mainly endemic to the eastern and western slopes of the Andes, with a few species extending into the lowlands as far as southeastern Brazil and Argentina. Most exhibit characteristic black wings with orange basal patches, but some species formerly included in the genus Cyanotricha are mainly iridescent bluish black with red dashes, and other species now removed to different genera (Notascea, Lyces) share the orange and black color pattern, probably as a result of Müllerian mimicry (the pattern is also shared by various pericopine and lithosiine arctiids).Characteristics
Most species in the genus can be recognized by the striking yellow-orange basal regions of the forewings, many with black scaling on the veins. However, there are very similar species in other dioptine genera (Notascea), as well as mimics in Geometridae and Arctiidae. The wing venation of Scea auriflamma is shown below.
Scea auriflamma. © 2009 James S. Miller
Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
The partially-resolved hypothesis of relationships shown above is distilled from the species accounts in Miller (2009).References
Miller, JS. 2009. Generic revision of the Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 321, 1-971 + 48 plates.
Title Illustrations
| Scientific Name | Scea auriflamma |
|---|---|
| Location | Brazil: Bahia, Serra Bonita |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Identified By | James S. Miller |
| Life Cycle Stage | adult |
| View | dorsal-lateral |
| Image Use |
 This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
|
| Copyright | © 2009 Andrei Sourakov |
About This Page
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to James S. Miller at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at
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Scea .
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- First online 10 January 2010
- Content changed 10 January 2010
Citing this page:
Miller, James S. and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2010. Scea . Version 10 January 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Scea/138592/2010.01.10 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
