Elhamma australasiae

Elhamma australasiae (Walker, 1856)
(one synonym : Porina banghaasii)
HEPIALIDAE

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

When the eggs of this species are first deposited by the female moth, they are white. As she keeps laying, later eggs are brown, and finally black.

The Caterpillars are initially buff with brown heads. Later they become dark brown all over. They are said to feed on :

various grasses ( POACEAE ).

Male

The fore wings of the adult moths are dark brown with black speckles. The hind wings and abdomen are dark red. The males also have a white zig-zag line on each fore wing.

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

The wings lose the scales very easily, leaving the wings semi- transparent. The male moths have a wingspan of about 4 cms. The females have a span of 4 to 6 cms.

Female

The species occurs in

New Guinea,
and along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and is a common species in

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

Victoria.

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

The earliest adults appear in January, but they are most common in March and usually disappear by April. The males come to lights more readily than the females, and are more uniform in size.

Female, head
(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Victoria)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 19.1, p. 149.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 41.

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(updated 27 July 2011)