Lactura erythractis

Lactura erythractis (Meyrick, 1887)
(previously known as Enaemia erythractis)
LACTURIDAE, ZYGAENOIDEA

(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

This adult moth has forewings which have a striking but variable criss-cross pattern of scarlet on a yellow background.

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The hindwings are a uniform silky orange. Its wingspan is about 3 cms.

(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The species occurs in :

mating pair
(Photo: by Matt Flinders, Kimberley, Western Australia, courtesy of Steve Dodge)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 7.20, p. 299.

Edward Meyrick,
Descriptions of new Lepidoptera,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 1, Part 4 (1887), pp. 1043-1044.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 112.

Australian
Australian Butterflies

(updated 1 November 2010, 26 May 2018, 25 July 2022)