Calamidia hirta

Calamidia hirta (Walker, 1854)
Wedge Footman
(one synonym : Calamidia salpinctis Meyrick, 1886)
LITHOSIINI, ARCTIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Calamidia hirta
female
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The female adult moths of this species are off-white. Their wingspan is about 5 cms.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

The males are brown with a yellow basal patch on each forewing, and have hindwings that fade to yellow at the bases. The male moths also have long labial palps which project in front of the head. The wingspan of the male is about 4 cms.

In their normal posture, the moths wrap the wings around the body.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 2)

The species is found over eastern Australia, including:

Queensland,

Lord Howe Island,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania, and

South Australia.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 2)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 18.23, p. 438.

Peter Hendry,
The Australian Arctiid Moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae) with emphasis on Creatonotos Gangis,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 65 (June 2012), pp. 12-13.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 2,
Tiger Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 26-27.

Francis Walker,
Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 2 (1854), p. 510, No. 42.

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(updated 1 May 2013, 10 July 2024)