Synemon magnifica Strand, 1911 Magnificent Sun Moth CASTNIIDAE,   SESIOIDEA

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

(Photo: courtesy of Reiner Richter, Newnes Plateau, New South Wales)

The adult moth of this species has speckled brown forewings with two irregular broad pale diagonal bands forming a 'V' shape.

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

The hindwings are dark brown with two curving orange bands, and a submarginal arc of orange spots. The wingspan is about 4.5 cms.

drawing by Embrik Strand,
Castniidae: Indo-Australian Bombyces and Sphinges,
in Adalbert Seitz (ed.): The Macrolepidoptera of the World,
Stuttgart : Alfred Kernen Verlag, Volume 10 (1933), Plate 9, fig b2,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Natural History Museum Library, London.

The species occurs in

Western Australia.

underside
drawing by Embrik Strand,
Castniidae: Indo-Australian Bombyces and Sphinges,
in Adalbert Seitz (ed.): The Macrolepidoptera of the World,
Stuttgart : Alfred Kernen Verlag, Volume 10 (1933), Plate 9, fig b2,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Natural History Museum Library, London.

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Further reading :

Embrik Strand,
Bombyces and Sphinges of the Indo-Australian Region,
in Adalbert Seitz (ed.):
The Macrolepidoptera of the World,
Stuttgart : Alfred Kernen Verlag, Volume 10 (1933), p.2, and also Plate 9, fig b2.

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(written 14 February 2017, updated 21 August 2018, 8 September 2019, 30 July 2021)