Arid Gum Moth
S4 Male, dorsal, tent pose
Arid Gum Moth
S4 Male, Antenna
| Arid Gum Moth S4 Male, dorsal, tent pose | | Arid Gum Moth S4 Male, Antenna | | ||
 | 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: | 🔍S4 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 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. | |||||
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