Ceratophaga vastellus ( Zeller, 1852 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 28

Ceratophaga vastellus ( Zeller, 1852)

COMMON NAME (S): Horn Moth. SYNONYM(S): Tinea gigantella Stainton, 1860 ; Tinea lucidella Walker, 1863c .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia , Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South

Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Lusaka, in Lusaka Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Undefined decaying animal matter is reported as larval food of the taxon in Uganda. The African Moths (2019) webpage indicates that larval food for the taxon is dead animal material (buffaloes, cattle and antelope horn) and dried fruit. The larva, for example, bores in the horns of dead buffaloes and antelopes and feeds on the hornmass .

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Gozmány 1967a –c; Meyrick 1924b.

Genus Monopis H̡bner, 1825