This illustration of a giant moth appeared in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, the colony's first scientific journal, in 1872. The moth was discovered by Walter Buller and Gilbert Mair during an expedition into the Ruahine Range in 1867, and Buller named it Porina mairi after Mair. It was reported to have a wing span of 150 millimetres, as large as the pūriri moth. No other specimens of the moth have been found and the one collected by Buller was subsequently lost. This is the only image of it.
Using this item
Royal Society of New Zealand
Reference:
Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society 1 (1868), facing p. 280
Permission of the Royal Society of New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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