Thalatha melaleuca Hampson, 1908
 (one synonym : Molvena hieroglyphica Turner, 1920)
ACRONICTINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Thalatha melaleuca
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The forewings of the adult moth have a pattern of black and white. The hind wings are dark grey-brown, fading toward the bases, with dark veins. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

Thalatha melaleuca
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The species has been found in

  • New Guinea (fig. 2),

    and also in Australia in:

  • Queensland.

    Thalatha melaleuca
    female    ,
    drawing by Horace Knight, printed by West, Newman & Co. for George F. Hampson in
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume VIII (1909), Plate CXXIV, figure 2,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    Further reading :

    George F. Hampson,
    Catalogue of the Noctuidae in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Volume 8 (1909), pp. 48-49, No. 3623.

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    (updated 21 November 2011, 14 August 2026)