Metazoa    Arthropoda    Insecta    Lepidoptera   
Geometridae
next species »
« previous species  |    
Abraxas sylvata
Clouded Magpie 
Ulmen-Harlekin 
Subspecies
(1) Abraxas sylvata sylvata (Scopoli, 1763)
(2) Abraxas sylvata ijimai Inoue, 1955
(3) Abraxas sylvata intensus Cockerell, 1906
(4) Abraxas sylvata ischna Wehrli (in Seitz), 1939
(5) Abraxas sylvata microtate (Wehrli, 1931)

The taxon microtate has originally been described as a separate species, but is listed as a subspecies in the World Catalogue (Parsons et al. 1999). Only the nominate subspecies occurs in Germany.
Synonyms
Synonymy of Abraxas sylvata sylvata:

Phalaena sylvata Scopoli, 1763
Calospilos sylvata (Scopoli, 1763)
Abraxas sylvata (Scopoli, 1763)
Abraxas sylvata sylvata (Scopoli, 1763)
Phalaena ulmata Fabricius, 1775
Phalaena pantherata Borkhausen, 1794
Calospilos pantherata (Borkhausen, 1794)
Calospilos ulmaria Huebner, 1825
Calospilos silvata auct. (misspelling)
Calospilos ulmata auct. (misspelling)

Note: The term Abraxas traces from gnostic religious beliefs, where it is a magic word, combining some form of mystic numerology with comological ideas plus a hierarchy of god-like creatures and/or mystical powers. However, it is often used as a name for the "power above all" or the "highest of all gods" and is then depicted as a male god. This is currently the best evidence for the grammatical gender of the genus name and I therefore regard the genus name as a masculine noun. All adjectival species name epithets therefore must take the masculine form (i.e. the subspecies epithet intensus). However, the nature of "sylvata" is unclear. It is based on the Latin word sylva (an alternative form of silva ("forest, woods"), but is not a proper Latin form. Therefore, I do not regard it as an adjective, but as a form comparable to Roman cognomina. These were also formed irregularly from a basic word (e. g. "Cicero" formed from the word "cicer" (chickpea) as the cognomen for Marcus Tullio Cicero). Thus, I regard "sylvata" as a noun in apposition that does not change its form when combined with different genera.
Identification
No information has been entered yet.
Distribution
No information has been entered yet.
Biology
No information has been entered yet.
Contact

Zoographia Germaniae is authored and maintained by Niko Prpic-Schäper.
Contact information: see here
Site info:   About   •    Support   •    News   •    Links   •    Donate / Spenden
Explore:   Home    •     References Database    •     Monograph Series
Legal info:   Disclaimer   •    Terms & Conditions