Aenetus simonseni Beaver & Moore, 2020
HEPIALIDAE,   HEPIALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Aenetus simonseni
male
(Photo: courtesy of Ethan Beaver, Darwin, Northern Territory)

The Caterpillars of this species are basically cream coloured, and have been found boring the wood of:

  • Cheese Trees ( Grewia breviflora, MALVACEAE ).

    The adult male moths have patchy green forewings, each a brown costa with pale spots. The hindwings are very pale turquoise, with pink hair over parts of the basal areas. The male wingspan is about 8 cms.

    Aenetus simonseni
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Ethan Beaver, Rimbija Island, Arnhem Land)

    The adult female moths have two colour forms. One has green forewings, each having an arc of brown spots, and a brown costa with green spots. The other has speckly brown forewings. The hindwings are salmon pink. The wingspan of the female is about 10 cms.

    The species has been found in :

  • Northern Territory.

    Aenetus simonseni
    underside, male
    (Photo: courtesy of Ethan Beaver, Darwin, Northern Territory)


    Further reading :

    Ethan Beaver, Michael D. Moore, Alejandro Velasco-Castrillón, John R. Grehan, Mark I. Stevens,
    Four new species of Splendid Ghost Moths (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae: Aenetus) from Australia and Papua New Guinea,
    Zootaxa,
    Volume 47809, Part 3 (July 2020), pp. 449-474.


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    (written 15 August 2020, updated 17 August 2020)