''Letis hercyna'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

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 was first described by Dru Drury in 1773 from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Description

Upper side: antennae filiform, brown, and thread-like. Head,

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

, and wings greyish brown. The anterior wings having about two-thirds, next the shoulders, of a lighter brown, being separated from the darker part by a narrow, black, undulated line, similar to one which runs along the external edges from the tips to the lower corners; near the shoulders are placed two brown spots on each wing, one round, the other squarish. Posterior wings having two narrow, black, undulated lines crossing them, one next the external edges, the other about a quarter of an inch above them; the latter being edged with white. Under side:

palpi Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ...

, breast, and sides greyish brown. Tongue spiral. Anterior wings rather lighter than on the upper side; having a dark undulated line crossing them, near the middle, from the anterior to the posterior edges; near the shoulders are two brown spots, one exactly like a comma, the other round and smaller; a white streak, edged at the top with brown, is placed near the lower corners; and along the external edges is a row of faint angulated brown spots placed over each scallop. Posterior wings greyish brown; having a small, square, brown spot near the shoulders, and a patch of a whitish colour at the upper corners. A dark brown undulated line, edged with white, begins near the middle of the anterior edges, which crossing the wings ends at the extremity of the body; and along the external edges runs a series of brown spots, placed over each scollop. All the wings are dentated. Wing-span nearly 4¼ inches (108 mm).

References

Moths described in 1773 Descriptions from Illustrations of Exotic Entomology Thermesiini Taxa named by Dru Drury {{Erebinae-stub