Laelia obsoleta (Fabricius, 1775)
Tinged Tussock Moth
 (often misidentified as: Laelia croperoides from Madagascar)
LYMANTRIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Laelia obsoleta
(Photo: courtesy of Dave Britton)

This adult moth has a hairy brown body with an orange tuft on its tail, and white wings shading to a pale yellow leading edge. It has a wingspan of about 2 cms.

Laelia obsoleta
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

It 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, 8 March 2021)