Oxycanus subvaria (Walker, 1856) Small Oxycanus (one synonym: Oxycanus lamnus Tindale, 1935) HEPIALIDAE,   HEPIALOIDEA

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

male
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 6)

The adult male moths of this species have brown wings with very variable patterns of white and dark markings on the forewings. The hindwings are plain brown. A mat of red or orange hairs extend across the bases particularly of the hindwings. The females are paler than the males. The wingspan of the males is about 5 cms. The wingspan of the females is about 7 cms.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 6)

The species has been found in :

Tasmania.

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

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Further reading :

Axel Kallies,
Moths of Victoria - Part 6,
Ghost Moths - HEPIALIDAE and Allies,
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2015, pp. 34-35.

Norman B. Tindale,
Revision of the Australian Ghost Moths (Lepidoptera Homoneura, Family Hepialidae) Part III,
Records of the South Australian Museum,
Volume 5 (1935), pp. 325-326, and figs. 119, 120.

Francis Walker,
Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 7 (1856), p. 1562, No. 1.

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(written 29 December 2016, updated 10 September 2021)