Heliocheilus mesoleuca (Lower, 1902)
 (formerly known as Cathylidia mesoleuca)
HELIOTHINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

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

The adult moth has forewings that are dark brown, with three pale radial streaks on each one. The hindwings are buff with dark borders. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.

Heliocheilus mesoleuca
female, drawing by George F. Hampson, listed as Melicleptria aleurota,
Catalogue of the Noctuidæ in the Collection of the British Museum,
Volume IV (1903), Plate LVII, fig. 14,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

The species has been taken in inland Australia in

  • ,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    Oswald B. Lower,
    New Species of Australian Lepidoptera,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 26 (1902), pp. 640-641.

    Marcus Matthews,
    Heliothine Moths of Australia:
    A Guide to Pest Bollworms and Related Noctuid Groups,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1999, pp. 77-79, 168-169, 199, Plate 9.

    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 12 April 2021)