Abantiades pica Mallee Ghost Moth (Tindale, 1932) (formerly known as Bordaia pica) HEPIALIDAE,   HEPIALOIDEA

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

early instar
(Photo: courtesy of the South Australian Museum)

The Caterpillar of this species is off-white with a dark chitinous head and collar.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Big Desert, Victoria)

The moths have dark grey forewings with translucent silvery markings. The hindwings are a paler shade of grey. The antennae of the male moths are bipectinate. The male moths have a wingspan of about 5 cms.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Big Desert, Victoria)

The females have thinner and shorter antennae than the male. The female moths have a wingspan of about 7 cms.

The species has been found in

Western Australia.

male, monochrome grey-scale drawing by Norman B. Tindale, listed as Bordaia pica,
Revision of the Australian Ghost Moths (Lepidoptera Homoneura, Family Hepialidae),
Records of the South Australian Museum, Volume 4, Part 4 (1932), p. 507, fig. 16,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by South Australian Museum.

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Further reading :

Axel Kallies,
Moths of Victoria - Part 6,
Ghost Moths - HEPIALIDAE and Allies,
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2015, pp. 24-25.

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. 55, etc., Plates 21A, 21B.

Norman B. Tindale,
Revision of the Australian Ghost Moths (Lepidoptera Homoneura, Family Hepialidae) ,
Records of the South Australian Museum,
Volume 4, Part 4 (1932), pp. 507-508, fig. 16.

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(written 9 September 2016, updated 29 January 2020, 10 March 2021)