Ophiusa tirhaca (Cramer, 1777) COMMON NAME(S): Green Drab moth. SYNONYM(S): Noctua auricularis Ḩbner, 1803; Noctua tirrhaea Fabricius, 1781; Noctua vesta Esper, 1789; Ophiodes hottentota Guenée, 1852c; Ophiodes separans Walker, 1858c; Ophiusa clementi (Swinhoe, 1918); Ophiusa obscura Pinker & Bacallado,1978; Ophiusa whitei Wiltshire, 1977. IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE). DISTRIBUTION: Algeria, Australia, Cabo Verde, China, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Macaronesia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moluccas, Morocco, Namibia, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Sulawesi, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Vulcan Islands, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Lusaka and Kafue, in Lusaka Province; Mumbwa, in Central Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Larval foodplants include five Anacardiaceae species (i.e. Pistacia vera L., Rhus laevigata L., Anacardium occidentale L., Ozoroa mucronata (Bernh. ex Krauss) R.Fern. & A.Fern. and Schinus mole L.), two Myrtaceae species (Eucalyptus sp. and Leptospermum laevigatum (Gaertn.) F.Muell.), one Rutaceae species (Citrus sp.), one Combretaceae species (Combretum molle R.Br. ex G.Don), one Thymelaeaceae species (Daphne sp.), one Ericaceae species (Erica sp.), one Santalaceae species (Osyris sp.), one Pinaceae species (Pinus radiata D.Don), one Adoxaceae species (Viburnum sp.) and one Apocynaceae species (Carissa edulis L.) (African Moths 2019). SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Hampson 1910c.

Published as part of Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), pp. 1-503 in Zootaxa 5354 (1) on pages 347-348, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5354.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10130434