Black-banded Crest-moth
S3, Male, dorsal, wings wrapped
Black-banded Crest-moth
S3, Male, Head
| Black-banded Crest-moth S3, Male, dorsal, wings wrapped | | Black-banded Crest-moth S3, Male, Head | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Nacophorini) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Black-banded Crest-moth (Chlenias stenosticha) | ||||
| This Photo: | S3, Male, profile | ||||
Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Cathy Powers & Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere ~36mm wingspan, ~14mm long. The black blotches on it's forewings are more obvious to the naked eye. The sharply pointed, forward facing, thoracis crest can be receded by the moth at will. Possibly a defense mechanism to make it appear more aggressive or larger? Gender can be differentiated by their antennae, with females being thread-like (filiform) & males being shortly bipectinate. | |||||
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