Oxycanus subvaria (Walker, 1856)
Small Oxycanus
(one synonym: Oxycanus lamnus Tindale, 1935)
HEPIALIDAE,   HEPIALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Oxycanus subvaria
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.

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

The species has been found in :

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

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


    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)