Heliocheilus albivenata (Montague, 1914) (one synonym: Melicleptria bipartita Strand, 1924) HELIOTHINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

preserved (bleached) caterpillar
(Photo: courtesy of Pornthap Kerkig, 2015)

The Caterpillars of this species are have a pale brown head speckled with dark dots. The caterpillars have two pairs of undeveloped prolegs. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 2 cms.

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

The adult moth has brown forewings, each with vague dark streaks in the basal half, and in the marginal half with pale veins with dark edges. The hindwings are pale brown, fading to white at the bases, and have wavy margins. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

The species has been found in

Western Australia.

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Further reading :

Marcus Matthews,
Heliothine Moths of Australia: A Guide to Pest Bollworms and Related Noctuid Groups,
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera: Volume 7,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1999, pp. 48-50, 151-152, 195-196, Plates 6, 14.

Paul Denys Montague,
A report on the Fauna of the Monte Bello Islands,
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
1914, p. 646, No. 10, and Plate 1, fig. 11.

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(written 2 March 2019, updated 13 April 2021)