Laelia obsoleta (Fabricius, 1775)
Tinged Tussock Moth
 (one synonym is Procodeca quadrata Walker, 1855)
LYMANTRIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Laelia obsoleta
female
(Photo: courtesy of John Bromilow, Rosedale, New South Wales)

This adult moths of this species have a body that is covered with off-white hair on top and orange underneath, with an orange tuft on the tail. The forewings are off-white shading to a pale yellow leading edge, and the hindwings are plain off-white. The males have an off-white hairy head and very feathery antennae. The females have a head covered in orange hair, and have thread-like antennae which are white on top and black underneath. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

Laelia obsoleta
male
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/CNC/CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The species occurs in Australia in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 43.3, p. 428.

    Johan Christian Fabricius,
    Entomologia Systematica Emendata et Aucta,
    Volume 3, Part 1 (1793), p. 463, No. 175.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 2,
    Tiger Moths and their Allies - Noctuoidea (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 18-19.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 12.

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    (updated 13 September 2010, 13 November 2024)