''Lymantria lunata'', the luna gypsy moth, 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 w ...

of 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'') ...

. The species was first described by

Caspar Stoll Caspar Stoll (Hesse-Kassel, probably between 1725 and 1730 – Amsterdam, December 1791) was a naturalist and entomologist, best known for the completion of ''De Uitlandsche Kapellen'', a work on butterflies begun by Pieter Cramer. He also publis ...

in 1782. It is found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to the northeast coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. 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 of ...

is about 60 mm. The body is brown and the wings are white with a pattern of brown lines on the forewings. The larvae have been recorded feeding on ''

Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern mangoesthe "Indian type ...

'', ''

Buchanania muelleri ''Buchanania'' is a genus of plants in the family Anacardiaceae and subfamily Anacardioideae. Species The following are included: *'' Buchanania amboinensis'' Miq. — native to Papua New Guinea *'' Buchanania axillaris'' (Desr.) Ramamoo ...

'' and ''

Ficus benjamina ''Ficus benjamina'', commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or ficus tree, and often sold in stores as just ficus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is the official tree of Bangkok. The ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Lymantria lunata lunata'' *''Lymantria lunata diversa'' *''Lymantria lunata curvifera''

References

* Lymantria Moths described in 1782 {{Lymantriinae-stub