Fraus nanus (Herrich-Schaffer, 1853)
(formerly known as Epiolus naus)
Slender Fraus
HEPIALIDAE,   HEPIALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Fraus nanus
male
(Photo: courtesy of Axel Kallies, Moths of Victoria: Part 6)

The adult moths are pale to medium brown, with variable pale markings on the forewings. The females have a dark tuft of hairs at the base of each hindwing. The male moths have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms. The female moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

Fraus nanus
(Photo: courtesy of Cathy Powers, Brisbane Ranges, Victoria)

The species has been found in

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.


    Further reading :

    Axel Kallies,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 6,
    Ghost Moths - HEPIALIDAE and Allies
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2015, pp. 6-11.

    Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer,
    Sammlung neuer oder wenig bekannter aussereuropäischer Schmetterlinge,
    Verzeichniss der in diesem Werke gelieferten Arten nach Reihenfolge ihrer Veroffentlichung,
    Series I, Volume 1, Part 3 (1855), p. 78, and Plate 10, fig. 46.

    Ebbe Nielsen & Niels Peder Kristensen
    Primitive Ghost Moths : Morphology and Taxonomy of the Australian Genus Fraus Walker (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae s. lat.)
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 1,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 1989.


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

    (written 15 December 2016, updated 2 January 2017, 10 April 2021)