Prays fulvocanella

Prays fulvocanella is a moth in the family Plutellidae. It seems endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The type locality is Kaholuamano.

Prays fulvocanella
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Plutellidae
Genus: Prays
Species:
P. fulvocanella
Binomial name
Prays fulvocanella
Walshingham, 1907

The host plant is unknown, but they might feed on the buds and seeds of Platydesma or the flowers of Fagara hawaiiensis.

Taxonomy

This species has been recorded from Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai and Hawaii, but research of the male genitalia of paratypes from the Waianae Mountains (Oahu), Lanai and Hawaii suggests they represent three distinct new species. When originally describing the species, Walsingham had 42 specimens. He erroneously considered them all to represent one species which, he said, "varies considerably in size and in the amount of brown suffusion".


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