Idalima affinis (Boisduval, 1832)
Eastern Speckled Day-moth
(one synonym : Agarista vindex Butler, 1884)
AGARISTINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Idalima affinis
(Photo: courtesy of Lorna Bloom, Mudgee, New South Wales)

The forewings of the adult moths are black with a white diagonal bar across each one, and white speckles near the base. The hindwings are black, each with a white edge. The abdomen is black with white bands across it.

Idalima affinis
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

There are also some white spots on the under surface of each hindwing. The adults are notorious for their very fast and direct flight.

Idalima affinis
underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The species occurs

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory, and
  • Victoria.

    Tisiphone abeona
    mating pair
    (Photo: courtesy of Gary Brooks, Tinnanbar, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval,
    Faune Entomologique de L'Ocean Pacifique,
    Voyage de Decouvertes de la Corvette l'Astrolabe,
    Division 7, Part 1 : Lepidopteres (1832), p. 177.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 49.12, p. 463.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
    Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 34-35.


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    (updated 11 April 2011, 27 November 2017, 9 October 2020)