Cotton looper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cotton looper |
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The Anomis flava, also known as the cotton looper, tropical anomis, or white-pupiled scallop moth, is a fascinating type of moth. It belongs to a large family of moths called Erebidae. This moth was first officially described by a scientist named Johan Christian Fabricius way back in 1775.
You can find the cotton looper moth in many parts of the world. It lives in places like China, Hawaii, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Society Islands, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. In Australia, it's found in New South Wales, Norfolk Island, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia. There's even a special type, a subspecies called Anomis flava fimbriago, that lives in North America.
About the Cotton Looper Moth
This moth is not very big. Its wingspan, which is the distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other when they are spread out, is usually about 28 millimeters. That's about the length of a small paperclip!
What Do Cotton Loopers Eat?
The young cotton looper moths are called larvae, or caterpillars. These caterpillars love to munch on certain plants. They especially enjoy eating the leaves of the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (a common hibiscus flower), Hibiscus cannabinus, Legnephora moorei, and Gossypium hirsutum, which is the plant that gives us cotton.
Images for kids
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Female dorsal view
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Female ventral view
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Male dorsal view
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Male ventral view
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