Ceretes thais

Ceretes thais
Illustration by Dru Drury
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Castniidae
Genus:	Ceretes
Species:	C. thais
Binomial name
Ceretes thais (Drury, 1782)[1]
Synonyms
Papilio thais Drury, 1782 Papilio chremes Fabricius, 1793 Corybantes nicon Hübner, [1822] Castnia thalaira Godart, [1824] Castnia nicon Gray, 1838 (preocc. Hübner, [1822]) Castnia morphoides Walker, [1865] Chremes jonesii Buchecker, [1876] Ceretes thais var. gracillima Houlbert, 1918

Ceretes thais is a moth in the Castniidae family. It is found in Brazil. Superficially it looks very like a butterfly, and was originally placed by Dru Drury in the "Papilio (Danaus Festivus)" group which mostly corresponds with modern Nymphalidae.

Description

Upper Side. Antennae brown. Thorax, abdomen, and anterior wings red-brown; the latter having two streaks or bars of a lighter colour crossing them from the anterior edges to the posterior and external ones; one crossing the middle of the wing, the other nearer the tips. Posterior wings orange; the lower part black along the external edge, whereon are placed a row of square orange-coloured spots, those next the upper corners reaching to the edge; a black line also crosses these wings, beginning just below the body, and running almost across to the upper corner.

Under Side. Palpi and thorax red-brown. Abdomen yellowish. Anterior wings yellowish clay-coloured, with three black lines crossing them transversely, the middle one being the broadest. Posterior wings orange-brown, with a small white spot placed near the centre. Margins of the wings plain. Wing-span 2½ inches (64 mm).^[2]

References

1. Ceretes at funet
2. Drury, Dru (1837). Westwood, John, ed. Illustrations of Exotic Entomology 3. pp. 22-23. pl. XVI.