Chiretolpis erubescens is a species of moth in the family Erebidae, subfamily Arctiinae, first described by British entomologist George Hampson in 1891. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India, specifically recorded from the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu.
Taxonomy
The species was originally described under the genus Tricholepis as Tricholepis erubescens by Hampson in 1891. It was later transferred to the genus Chiretolpis, which was established in 1980 by Watson, Fletcher, and Nye as a replacement name for the preoccupied Tricholepis Blanchard, 1850. Chiretolpis erubescens is the type species of the genus Chiretolpis.
Description
According to the original description, the moth has an orange head and thorax, with fore tibiae bearing black streaks. The species is considered a rare moth endemic to the Western Ghats.
Rediscovery
After its initial description in 1891 based on three collected specimens (none of which are believed to have survived), the species was not recorded for 132 years. In 2024, researchers in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, rediscovered and photographed Chiretolpis erubescens, marking the first photographic record of the species. This rediscovery was documented in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society and reported by multiple news outlets.
