Vitessa zemire (Stoll, [1781]) (erroneously : Cosmethis zemira) PYRALINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

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

These moths have forewings that are white, with a series black stripes at the margin, and with two black transverse bands. The outer black band has a pale blue spot. The area between the hind band and the thorax is yellow, The thorax itself is also yellow with two black spots. The hindwings are plain black. There is also have a yellow brush of hairs at the tip of the abdomen. The moths have a wingspan of about 5 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

The species has been found in

Queensland.

drawing by Caspar Stoll, listed as Phalaena zemire,
Papillons exotiques, De uitlandsche kapellen, voorkomende in de drie waereld,
Volume 4 (1781), Plate CCCLXVII, fig. I,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

---

Further reading :

Buck Richardson,
Mothology,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 28.

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 189.

Caspar Stoll,
Papillons exotiques,
in Pieter Cramer:
De uitlandsche kapellen, voorkomende in de drie waereld,
Volume 4 (1781), pp. 149-150, and also Plate 367, fig. I.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 132.

---

previous caterpillar

Australian butterflies

Australian Lepidoptera

Australian moths

next caterpillar

(updated 4 November 2010, 2 January 2021)