Black Crescent Owlet Moth
Female, anterior
Ellura
Dark Noctuid Moth
Dorsal, ~17mm
 
                      
Black Crescent Owlet Moth (Proteuxoa sp ES06)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Acronictinae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Black Crescent Owlet Moth (Proteuxoa sp ES06)
This Photo:     Female, ventral
Synonym: Thoracolopha

Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~12mm long with winspan of ~28mm.
As both genders of Proteuxoa & Thoracolopha have filiform antennae, it makes determining their genders more difficult. The body shapes, shown here, are used to guess the different genders.
While Thoracolopha is the currently accepted name (as of late 2017), we use the names on the ALA lists these under Proteuxoa.
Marilyn said "This is labelled as an undescribed Proteuxoa species in the Aust. National Insect Collection. My research has found 25 Vic. specimens from the west of the state. It can be distinguished from P. verecunda by the very broad black crescent mark and the lack of wavy cross-lines on the forewing."
Axel said "This one really does not seem to have a name (yet)".

Copyright © 2018-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 03-Apr-2018
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.