''Synemon sophia'' is a species of

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

Castniidae Castniidae, or castniid moths, is a small family of moths with fewer than 200 species: The majority are Neotropical with some in Australia and a few in south-east Asia. These are medium-sized to very large moths, usually with drab, cryptically ...

. It is found in Australia, including

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, Victoria and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Description

The anterior wings of the male are brown, clouded with grey and fuscous brown. There is a dark cloud near the base and another at the end of the discoidal cell followed by a white dot. The posterior wings are black, the base with an oval yellow spot, a macular yellow band beyond the middle, followed by a series of yellow spots. The head is greyish and the antennae are black varied with white. The thorax is grey and the abdomen is black at the base, but whitish beyond. The anterior wings of the female are nearly black, clouded with light bluish-grey scales, on the margin arranged into a band divided by a series of black spots. The posterior wings are black, with a large orange spot near the base, followed by a broad abbreviated, transverse band, commencing on the abdominal margin and succeeded by a large rounded spot of the same colour; between these and the outer margin a series of three or four orange spots. The head is dark grey, the palpi nearly white and the antennae black, ringed with white. The abdomen is pale fulvous.

References

Moths described in 1841 Castniidae {{Castniidae-stub