A friend gave me a box with this moth in it for Christmas, which she bought at her uncle`s antique-type shop in Macclesfield.On top of the box is written in neat, Victorian-era-type black handwriting the words: OTHERIS SCHBELLUM BRASIL QUENSTA. CATERINA NOV in capitals, thus. When I typed in `OTHERIS SCHBELLUM BRASIL` into Google, I came up with nothing. When I typed in OTHERIS SCHBELLUM I came up with several hits, including one that clearly showed my specimen was long faded. The moth should have a lower wing consisting of a bright orange and black zig-zag stripe, and an upper wing of a dull brown. However, it originates from only one country: Ecuador.
However, there is a faint stripe on my moth that is slightly different in form from the BOLD Systems Taxonomy Browser website (1) image of this moth. This website shows a fairly clear diagonal line whereas my specimen`s line is not so straight. If anyone can enlighten us as to whether or not there is anything significant about these discrepancies please can they let me know?
"WHAT WAS THIS MOTH DOING IN BRAZIL?"
ReplyDeletePretty obvious really, it was on holiday.