Hyblaea constellata Guenée, 1852
(one synonym : Hyblaea contraria Walker, 1865)
HYBLAEIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Hyblaea constellata
Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

The adult moths of this species have forewings that vary from pale to dark brown with a blue sheen, each with markings including a curved pale band across the centre and a less distinct off-white band across the wing-tip.

Hyblaea constellata
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The forewing markings are variable, to the degree that they become degenerate blotches. The hindwings are dark brown with four yellow blotches. The adult moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

Hyblaea constellata
pale blotchy form
(Photo: courtesy of Axel Hausmann, SNSB, Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen)

Underneath, the forewings are brown with two yellow marks on the costa of each forewing, and orange under each hindwing with a dark mark at the tornus.

Hyblaea constellata
underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The species occurs in south-east Asia, including:

  • China,
  • Indonesia,
  • Japan,
  • Taiwan,

    and also in Australia in:

  • Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 8.22, p. 337.

    Achille Guenée,
    Noctuélites,
    in Boisduval & Guenée: Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 6 (1852), p. 391, No. 1251.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 97.


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    (updated 21 July 2010, 1 February 2020)