Musotima ochropteralis (Guenée, 1854)
 (previously known as Isopteryx ochropteralis)
MUSOTIMINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Melbourne, Victoria)

The caterpillars of this species feed on:

  • Maidenhair Fern ( Adiantum aethiopicum, POLYPODIOPHYTA ).


    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The adult moths of this species are brown with various markings, including a prominent white comma-shaped spot outlined in black on each forewing. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species is found in

  • New Zealand,

    as well as over much of Australia, including:

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

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig 33.3, p. 352.

    Achille Guenée,
    Hypogrammidae,
    in Boisduval & Guenée,
    Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 8 (1854), p. 230, No. 200.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 29 (listed as Musotima ochroptera).

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    (updated 3 April 2013, 14 November 2017, 1 September 2019, 20 January 2021)