Undescribed Rough-head
Male, dorsal
Ellura
Undescribed Rough-head
Male, Playing Dead
 
                      
Undescribed Rough-head (Hylaeora MoV1)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Oakworm (:Noctuoidea Notodontidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Undescribed Rough-head (Hylaeora MoV1)
This Photo:     🔍Male, profile🔎

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 2 as Hylaeora sp. (1)
~30mm long, ~70mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, while females have filiform antennae.
These have a complex of colour shades on the forewing. A stark white streak near front of the inner margin. At the back is a large triangular dark patch separated from the rest of the dark grey wing by a thick, very pale, line. It's almost indistinguishable, but definately there to the naked eye; photographing it is another matter. As with other Rough-heads the back of the neck is a complex array of large bluish scales.
The overall colours & patterns are reminiscent of sap on bark of a Mallee Tree; the body matching the ochre colour of a broken limb.
As with other members of this family, it plays dead a lot, curling up & exposing it's ochre body.
Came to night light, but was on the ground.

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 22-Mar-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.