Erebus crepuscularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
 (one synonym : Nyctipao leucotaenia Guenée, 1852)
EREBINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Erebus crepuscularis
male
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The adult moths of this species have brown patterned wings, with a brown eyespot on each forewing in the shape of a figure "3", and a white spot near the tip of each wing.

Erebus crepuscularis
female, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Nyctipao leucotaenia,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
Noctuidæ, Volume XII (1913), Plate CCVII, figure 8,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

The females also have a white stripe across each wing.

Erebus crepuscularis
male, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Nyctipao leucotaenia,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
Noctuidæ, Volume XII (1913), Plate CCVII, figure 7,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

The moths are thought to be significant pollinators of native trees.

Erebus crepuscularis
female, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Catherine Russo, SHEgreen Arboriculture and Horticulture, Lennox Head, New South Wales)

The species occurs in

  • Indonesia,
  • New Guinea,
  • Taiwan,

    and also in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Erebus crepuscularis
    male, underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Cairns, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 45.9, pp. 71, 455.

    George Francis Hampson,
    Catalogue of Noctuidae in the British Museum,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum,
    Volume 12 (1913), p. 298, No. 5418, and also Plate 207, figs. 7, 8.

    Carl Linnaeus,
    Insecta Lepidoptera,
    Systema Naturae,
    Edition 10, Part 1 (1758), p. 509, No. 65.

    Graham McDonald,
    Moths of Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 76 (March 2015), p. 12, fig.12.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 24.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, pp. 134-135.

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    (updated 18 July 2010, 13 August 2024)