Woolly-bodied Golden Moth
S2, profile
Ellura
Woolly-bodied Golden Moth
S2, Gold Sheen
 
                      
Woolly-bodied Golden Moth (Chrysodeixis eriosoma)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Plusiinae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Woolly-bodied Golden Moth (Chrysodeixis eriosoma)
This Photo:     🔍S2, dorsal🔎
Other names: Green Looper or Green Garden Looper

Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~20mm long. Both genders have filiform antennae.
"Green looper", what a lame common name for such an exquisite beast! It's referring to the larval stage. The translated name is much more spectacular, Woolly-body Golden Moth!
As you can see, these moths have strong gold reflections. And what a magnificent Thoracic Crest!
Notice the little tuft further back along the body, as well as at the end/posterir? The wings actually have "spurs" along the inner margin that create these tuft; as such they're not moveable (up & down) like tufts in other moths.

Copyright © 2023-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 15-Apr-2023
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.