| Unstable Ghost Moth (formerly known as Hepialus astathes) HEPIALIDAE, HEPIALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
 female |  male |
|
| Unstable Ghost Moth (formerly known as Hepialus astathes) HEPIALIDAE, HEPIALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
female | male |
The early instars of the Caterpillars of this species spend the first few weeks feeding on leaf detritus and fungi, before transferring themselves onto their host tree. There: they bore into the stems, and have been found in
The female adult moths have green forewings, each with a brown submarginal band, and brown areas along the costa and the hind-margin. The females have orange hind wings. The female moths have a wingspan of up to 7 cms.
The male adult moths have pale green or brown forewings, each with white markings including two narrow dark-edged white lines forming a large 'V' shape. The hindwings of the males are white. The male moths have a wingspan of about 4 cms.
The forewings of both sexes each have a recurved tip, and a slightly concave costa. The adult moths are very similar to those of Aenetus ligniveren.
The species is found in
Further reading :
Thomas J. Simonsen,
Splendid Ghost Moths and their Allies,
A Revision of Australian Abantiades, Oncopera, Aenetus, Archaeoaenetus and Zelotypia (Hepialidae),
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 12,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2018, pp. 139-140, pp. 46, 51, 123-126, 132-133, 205, 224, 243, Plate 24: figs. G and H.
A. Jefferis Turner,
Studies in Australian Lepidoptera,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 27 (1915), p. 56.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 20 March 2019, updated 18 January 2020)