''Cocytia'' is a genus 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 w ...

s in the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, being represented by the single species, ''Cocytia durvillii'', an uncommon day-flying moth found in lowland areas of the Moluccas, Aru, and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. The species has clear wings bordered with black, with an orange patch at the base of each forewing and long antennae, thicker at the outer end. Both the genus and species were first described by

Jean Baptiste Boisduval Jean Baptiste Alphonse Déchauffour de Boisduval (24 June 1799 – 30 December 1879) was a French lepidopterist, botanist, and physician. He was one of the most celebrated lepidopterists of France, and was the co-founder of the Société entomol ...

in 1828.

Subspecies

*''Cocytia durvillii durvillii'' (Papua New Guinea) *''Cocytia durvillii chlorosoma'' Butler, 1875 (Aru) *''Cocytia durvillii aurantiaca'' Rothschild, 1897 (Tenimber) *''Cocytia durvillii ribbei'' Druce, 1884 (Aru) *''Cocytia durvillii veitschi'' Butler, 1884 (Batchian)

References

Cocytiini Moths described in 1828 Monotypic moth genera {{Cocytiini-stub