Banded Heath Moth
S2, profile
Laced Grey Heath Moth
Female, laced termen
| Banded Heath Moth S2, profile | | Laced Grey Heath Moth Female, laced termen | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Geometer (:Geometridae Oenochrominae) | ||||
| Species: | Laced Grey Heath Moth (Dichromodes cf sp ES02) | ||||
| This Photo: | Female, dorsal | ||||
Thank you Peter Marriott for helping with the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere We feel it is important to post specimens here that aren't described; at least people can stop looking. While Peter isn't sure what this one is, he's inclined to think it's Dichromodes. He said Taxeotis was also a possibility, however it's resting position fitted Dichromodes better. Dichromodes males have unipectinate antennae. If a Taxeotis, the males will have filiform antennae like the female here. We can see this is a female due to body shape. Head & body ~9mm, wingspan ~25mm. We find these snippets of diagnostic information so important to the identification of moths. Size, wing & body shape, antennae style, flight times, crests, horns, tufts, stance & wing resting postion. It's easy to rely on forewing patterns too much (we do!). With specimens like this the patterns are not as easily discernable. Then of course there are hindwing patterns (normally obscured, we didn't photograph here) and ventral wing patterns; requiring a crystal glass to photograph clearly. The forewing pattern here looks a very close match to Chlenomorpha sciogramma, however, the shape of the wing doesn't match. The costal margin (leading wing edge) has a slight inward curve and the trailing edge (outer margin) is nearly straight compared with C. sciogramma. The lace pattern of the trailing scales on the forewings (termen) doesn't fit either, but Peter said this pattern is seen on other Dichromodes. | |||||
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