Arid Gum Moth
S1 Female, Forewing
Ellura
Arid Gum Moth
S1 Female, Partial Hindwing
 
                      
Arid Gum Moth (Mnesampela arida)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Nacophorini)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Arid Gum Moth (Mnesampela arida)
This Photo:     🔍S1 Female, Hindwing🔎

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
A rarely recorded largish moth.
The males are smaller than the females and have bipectinate antennae; compared with females having filiform. The male we measured was ~13mm long, ~38mm wingspan. The female was ~15mm long & ~44mm wingspan
The black & white thoracic crest differentiates these from other Mnesampela species.
They have a beige hindwing bleeding to plum coloured towards the trailing half. Their forwings are a dapled mustard colour that mimics a drying gum leaf perfectly. There are even raised scales scattered across the wing that mimic the blisters in the surface of drying gum leaves.
There is a faint/indistinct wavy rust coloured line across the middle of the forewing.

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 08-Apr-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.