Almonia

Almonia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Crambidae
Genus:	Almonia

Almonia is a genus of moths of the Crambidae family.

The Crambidae are the grass moth family of (butterflies and moths). They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass-stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly colored and patterned insects which rest in wing-spread attitudes.

In many classifications, the Crambidae have been treated as a subfamily of the Pyralidae or snout-moths. The principal difference is a structure in the ears called the praecinctorium, which joins two tympanic membranes in the Crambidae, and is absent from the Pyralidae. It would seem to be a matter of personal opinion (therefore not susceptible to definitive decision) whether this distinction merits division into two families, or whether the common presence of ventrally-located ears should unify them into one family. The latest review by Munroe & Solis, in Kristensen (1999) retains the Crambidae as a full family.

The Almonia genus has four known sub-species: A. cristata, A. lobipennis, A. onustalis, and A. truncatalis.

Of the four known sub-species, A. lobipennis is unique in the Crambidae family as being the only known carnivorous moth. Commonly known as the "Lobi Moth", several theories have been put forward on why it developed into a carnivorous moth. The feeding habit of the Lobi Moth is similar to that of the common mosquito with one exception; instead of sucking blood through its proboscis, the Lobi Moth uses tiny teeth to tear flesh out from directly under the host's skin.