Metallarcha beatalis (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875)
 (formerly known as Botys beatalis)
SPILOMELINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The adult moth of this species has dark brown forewings each with big bold yellow patches.


(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The hindwings are orange, each with a dark brown patch on the costa, and a broad dark brown margin incorporating a narrow yellow arc.


underside
(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The species has been found in Australia in

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.


    male, drawing by Felder & Rogenhofer, listed as Botys beatalis    ,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), Plate CXXXV, figure 5,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    Further reading : .

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 9.30, p. 357.

    Rudolf Felder & Alois F. Rogenhofer,
    Zoologischer Theil: Lepidoptera,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), p. 4, and also Plate 135, fig. 5.

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    (written 31 May 2014, updated 12 November 2025)