Ophiusa trapezium
species of insect
Ophiusa trapezium is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India, Sri Lanka to Queensland, the Bismarck Islands and New Caledonia. Adults are fruit piercers.
Description
It has a wingspan of 66 mm. The head and thorax are bright rufous. Shaft of antennae whitish. Abdomen brownish fuscous. Forewings bright rufous suffused with purplish as far as the postmedial line and beyond the submarginal line. There is an outwardly oblique antemedial line jointed at inner margin by the obliquely waved postmedial line. The reniform with rufous outline.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ophiusa trapezium” is species of insect. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ophiusa, trapezium and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “species of insect” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7098043. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1852.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ophiusa trapezium”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ophiusa trapezium primary sources, Ophiusa trapezium archive and Ophiusa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ophiusa trapezium”?
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- Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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This entry incorporates text from “Ophiusa trapezium” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.