Today's moth is Declana egregia. We choose this beautiful moth as the spokesMoth for Puka Whakamārama o te Pepe Nui - Te Taurapa (the Southern South Island Beginners' Guide to Macro moths).

Also know as the South Island Lichen Moth  or the South Island Zebra Moth Declana egregia features on the New Zealand $100 bill.

Declana egregia is a Geometrid of strikingly beautiful patterns. It was a hard job to select just one moth species for the cover of each of our Macro Moth Guides. We looked for a moth that was special to the region, distinctive and with some symbolism in the colouring. The colouring is also reflected in the shading of the region in the South Island (the waka reflection) on the front cover.

The snowy-white of chocolate brown reminded us of the southern frosts over rich deep soils of the Southland plains. Declana egregia of course uses the colourings and patterning of its wings as camoflage against a lichen back drop.

Declana egregia - found on the guide to Southern South Island