Levuana iridescens Bethune-Baker, 1906:344
Levuana moth
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Levuana irridescens Bethune-Baker, 1906:344
Conservation Status
Missing
Last record: 1929 (Howarth, 1991)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
The extinction of this species is unresolved: http://www.biocontrol.ucr.edu/hoddle/Levuana.html
Distribution
Viti Levu, Fiji
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Bethune-Baker, George T. (1906). Descriptions of African Lepidoptera. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) 18 (107): 339-346.
Other references:
Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (eds). 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. pp. 378. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Groombridge, B. (ed.). 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Hoddle, M. S. (2006). Historical review of control programs for Levuana iridescens (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae) in Fiji and examination of possible extinction of this moth by Bessa remota (Diptera: Tachinidae). Pacific Science 60: 439-453.
Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.
Howarth, F. G. (1991). Environmental impacts of classical biological control. Annual Review of Entomology 36: 485-509.
Howarth, F. G. (2001). Environmental issues concerning the importation of non-indigenous biological control agents. In: Lockwood, J.A., Howarth, F.G., Purcell, M.F. (Eds.), Balancing Nature: Assessing the Impact of Importing Non-Native Biological Control Agents (An International Perspective). Thomas Say Publications in Entomology: Proceedings. Entomological Society of America, Lanham, Maryland, pp.70-99.
Kuris, A. M. (2003). Did biological control cause extinction of the coconut moth, Levuana iridescens, in Fiji? Biological Invasions 5: 131-141.
Nazari, V., Tarmann, G. M. and Efetov, K. A. (2019). Phylogenetic position of the ‘extinct’ Fijian coconut moth, Levuana iridescens (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae). PLoS ONE 14(12): e0225590.
New, Tim R. (2005). Invertebrate Conservation and Agricultural Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Sands, D. P. A. (1997). The safety of biological control agents: assessing their impact on beneficial and other non-target hosts. Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 65: 611-616.
Tothill, J. D. (1925a). Report by the Acting Entomologist for the Year 1923. Levuana iridescens. Agricultural Circular, Fiji Department of Agriculture 5(2) 83-85.
Tothill, J. D. (1925b). Levuana iridescens campaign. Legislative Council, Fiji. Council Paper No. 20.
Tothill, J. D. (1925c). An interim report on the Levuana campaign. Colonial Office Report 3 pp.
Tothill, J. D. (1926). Work of the coconut committee. Legislative Council, Fiji. Council Paper No. 90. Department of Agriculture, page 2.
Tothill, J. D. (1928). Annual Report for the Year 1927. Legislative Council, Fiji. Council Paper No. 75, Department of Agriculture, pp. 1-5.
Tothill, J. D., Taylor, T. H. C. and Paine, R. W. (1930). The Coconut Moth in Fiji: a History of its Control by Means of Parasites. Imperial Bureau of Entomology, London.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1996. Levuana irridescens. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1996: e.T11919A3315160. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T11919A3315160.en. Accessed on 19 June 2022.
http://www.biocontrol.ucr.edu/hoddle/Levuana.html