Eoophyla dentisigna (Agassiz, 2012)
Crambidae: Acentropinae
C. Hackforth det. 2025
Republic of the Congo

This fascinating group are aquatic as larvae, and adult females may enter the water for several hours to lay eggs. The tiny hindwing eyespots are thought to represent jumping spider mimicry.

Zamarada protrusa serrula (Fletcher, 1974)
Geometridae: Ennominae
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo

One of ~25 Zamarada species collected from 3 hectares of Congolese lowland forest.

Porthesaroa sp.
Erebidae: Lymantriinae
C. Hackforth det. 2024
Republic of the Congo (new country record)

This species currently awaits formal description.

Maruca vitrata (Fabricius, 1787)
Crambidae: Spilomelinae
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo (new country record)

Heterostegane pachyspila (Fletcher D. S., 1958)
Geometridae: Ennominae
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo (new country record)

Cheroscelis oospila (Prout L. B., 1912)
Geometridae: Geometrinae
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo

Sciatta inconcisa (Walker, 1869)
Noctuidae: Pantheinae
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo (new country record)

Pliniola gibba (Plötz, 1880)
Erebidae: Arctiinae-Lithosiini
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo (new country record)

Pseudambia albomaculalis (Hampson, 1897)
Crambidae: Spilomelinae
C. Hackforth det. 2025
Republic of the Congo (new country record)

Balacra rubricincta (Holland, 1893)
Erebidae: Arctiinae
C. Hackforth det. 2023
Republic of the Congo

As we come to the end of 2025 I've had some time to photograph some moth specimens from my work in the Republic of the Congo, which I will share here in the coming weeks. First up:

Mazuca strigicincta (Walker, 1866)
Noctuidae: Xyleninae
C. Hackforth det. 2024
Republic of the Congo

Thrilled to today be starting as a PostDoc in the TropEco lab at the University of Bristol. I'll be working on the PanTropIn project, which aims to describe drivers and impacts of insect biodiversity changes across pantropical forests. Very excited to be up and running within an exciting new team!

Last week I defended my thesis "Structure and Function of Insect Communities in Central Congo Peatland Forests" with minor corrections. Thanks to supervisors Jan Axmacher and Simon Lewis for their inspiration and support, and to examiners Tim Newbold (UCL) and Ed Turner (Cambridge). Now, to publish!