''Phiala simplex'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

in the family

Eupterotidae Eupterotidae is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera with more than 300 described species. Diversity The family consists of four subfamilies and the unplaced ''Ganissa group''. The subfamily Eupterotinae consists of about 11 genera, the ...

. It was described by

Per Olof Christopher Aurivillius Per Olof Christopher Aurivillius (15 January 1843 – 20 July 1928) was a Swedish entomologist. Life Christopher Aurivillius was born at Forsa, Sweden. He was the director of the Natural History Museum in Stockholm and he specialised in Cole ...

in 1904. It is found in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

( Katanga),

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 46 mm. The wings are snow white, beyond the middle about 6 mm from the margin with a fine transverse line composed of black scales. This line is nearly erect in the forewings, gently arched and somewhat waved in the hindwings.Aurivillius, C. 1904c. New species of African Striphnopterygidae, Notodontidae and Chrysopolomidae in the British Museum. - ''Transactions of the Entomological Society of London'' 1904(4): 696–697

References

Moths described in 1904 Eupterotinae {{Bombycoidea-stub