Critically Endangered
Microreas Noctuid Moth
Agrotis microreas
Microreas Noctuid Moth is an owlet moth in the family Noctuidae (order Lepidoptera) — Agrotis microreas. Before its extinction within the last century, it was endemic to Hawaii, United States.
The owlet moth
Agrotis is a genus of owlet moths. Adults fly at night; many larvae are cutworms that feed on low plants. Island species in this genus often have nowhere else to go.
Owlet moths are a huge noctuid family. Adults are typically dull, night-flying moths; the larvae feed on plants.
Range and habitat
Before its extinction within the last century, it was endemic to Hawaii, United States.
GBIF currently lists 1 occurrence point. Those points follow where people logged the taxon — museum drawers and surveys included — not a closed range boundary.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Adult owlet moths come to light. Caterpillars of many species feed on grasses or herbs; island moths may have used a single native plant.
The adult is what most collections hold. The larva — the feeding stage — is often undescribed for the rarest names.
In crisis
It is now an extinct species.
Named moths and butterflies with a high threat category are often known from a small range and a thin series. Host-plant loss leaves little to recount.
Microreas Noctuid Moth is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Agrotis microreas — often a short stub, Wikidata item Q4694362 and GBIF occurrence geography. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
