Prototheora

Prototheora is a genus of moths. It is the only genus of the Prototheoridae, or the African primitive ghost moths, a family of insects in the lepidopteran order, contained in the superfamily Hepialoidea. These moths are endemic to Southern Africa.

Prototheora
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Hepialoidea
Family:	Prototheoridae Meyrick, 1917
Genus:	Prototheora Meyrick, 1917
Diversity[1]
12–13 species
Synonyms
Metatheora Meyrick, 1919

Diversity and distribution

Members of the genus Prototheora are found in South Africa (Kristensen, 1999: 60; Nielsen et al., 2000), Angola (Prototheora angolae) and the Mulanje Massif of Malawi (Davis, 2001). See also revisions by Janse (1942) and Davis (1996).

List of species

• Prototheora parachlora (Meyrick, 1919) (originally in Metatheora)
  • =Prototheora paraglossa; Janse, 1942
• Prototheora petrosema Meyrick, 1917
• Prototheora monoglossa Meyrick, 1924
• Prototheora corvifera (Meyrick, 1920) (originally in Metatheora)
• Prototheora merga Davis, 1996
• Prototheora quadricornis Meyrick, 1920
• Prototheora biserrata Davis, 1996
• Prototheora serruligera Meyrick, 1920
• Prototheora cooperi Janse, 1942
• Prototheora geniculata Davis, 1996
• Prototheora drackensbergae Davis, 1996
• Prototheora angolae Davis, 1996
• Prototheora malawiensis Davis, 2001