Amastus

For the ground beetle erroneously named Amastus by Motschulsky in 1865, see Rhytisternus.

Amastus is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae. The genus was erected by Francis Walker in 1855.

Amastus
Amastus aconia rumina Mount Totumas cloud forest, Panama
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Subfamily:	Arctiinae
Subtribe:	Phaegopterina
Genus:	Amastus Walker, 1855
Type species
Phaegoptera collaris Herrich-Schäffer, [1853]

Taxonomy

The delimitation of Amastus versus Hemihyalea has long been problematic. It was recently determined that the type species of Hemihyalea (the old Phaegoptera cornea) is so closely related to that of Amastus (P. collaris) as to warrant inclusion in the present genus. That determination led to the reestablishment of the genus Pseudohemihyalea for the more distantly related group of species around "Hemihyalea" schausi. There is no consensus yet on whether to include the remaining Hemihyalea species in Amastus.

Selected species

Species of Amastus include:

• Amastis aconia (Herrich-Schäffer 1853)
• Amastus bicolor (Maassen, 1890)
• Amastus cellularis Rothschild, 1922
• Amastus collaris (Herrich-Schäffer, [1853])
• Amastus maasseni (Rothschild, 1909)
• Amastus modesta (Maassen, 1890)
• Amastus mossi (Rothschild, 1922)
• Amastus muscosa (Rothschild, 1909)
• Amastus rubicundus (Toulgoët, 1981)
• Amastus rufocinnamomea (Rothschild, 1909)
• Amastus rufothorax Toulgoët, 1999
• Amastus umber Rothschild, 1909
• Amastus walkeri (Rothschild, 1922)

"A." lehmanni as described by Walter Rothschild in 1910 is now in Opharus. The homonymous species described by Rothschild in 1916, now renamed "A." popayanensis, is one of those disputed between Amastus and Hemihyalea.

References

• Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (November 5, 2004). "Amastus Walker, 1855". Butterflies and Moths of the World. Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
• Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (November 5, 2004). "Hemihyalea Hampson, 1901". Butterflies and Moths of the World. Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
• Schmidt, B. Christian. (2009). "Revision of the "Aemilia" ambigua (Strecker) species-group (Noctuidae, Arctiinae)". ZooKeys. 9: 63-78. doi:10.3897/zookeys.9.149

External links

• Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (November 5, 2004). "Amastus Walker, 1855". Butterflies and Moths of the World. Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
• Savela, Markku. "Amastus Walker, 1855". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved September 9, 2019.