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Cyclosia papilionaris by Kadavoor.JPG
Cyclosia papilionaris, female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
(unranked): Apoditrysia
Superfamily: Zygaenoidea
Family: Zygaenidae
Latreille, 1809


Larva showing warning colours, flattening




Zygaenid moths are typically day flying with a slow, fluttering flight, and with rather clubbed antennae. They generally have a metallic sheen and often prominent spots of red or yellow. The bright colours are a warning to predators that the moths are distasteful - they contain hydrogen cyanide (HCN) throughout all stages of their life cycle. Unlike most insects with such toxins, they obtain glucosides from the plants they utilize so that HCN can be used as a defence.[2] However, they are capable of making HCN themselves, and when in an environment poor in cyanide-producing plants, synthesize it themselves.[3] They are known to have mimicry complexes based on these toxins.[4]


Economic importance[edit]



Larvae are stout and may be flattened. A fleshy extension of the thorax covers the head. Most feed on herbaceous plants, but some are tree feeders. Larvae in two subfamilies, Chalcosiinae and Zygaeninae, have cavities in which they store the cyanide, and can excrete it as defensive droplets.[5]

Selected taxa[edit]

Satin-green forester (Pollanisus viridipulverulenta) found in most of Australia (including temperate Tasmania)

Genera incertae sedis include:

Pest species include:

UK species:

African species:

Extinct species:

See also[edit]


  3. ^ [1]

External links[edit]