Prorocopis euxantha

Prorocopis euxantha Lower, 1902
Golden Crest
CATOCALINI, EREBINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Peter Marriott & Stella Crossley

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

The adult moth has fawn forewings covered with intricate patterns of dark lines. The hindwings are yellow, with a dark border. The head carries a crest of dark scales. The abdomen is yellow with a black dorsal line. The moth has a wing span of about 3 cms.

(Photo: courtesy of Ian Baird, O'Connor, Australian Capital Territory)

This species may be found over most of Australia, including

Northern Territory,

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Mark Heath, Boxwood Hill, Western Australia)

The adult moths have a coiled haustellum under the head, which they can uncoil, and through which they can sip nectar from flowers.

underside of head, close-up
(Photo: courtesy of Mark Heath, Boxwood Hill, Western Australia)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 45.2, p. 450.

Oswald B. Lower,
New Species of Australian Lepidoptera,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 26 (1901), p. 657.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 10-11, 16-17.

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 150.

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(updated 13 April 2013, 2 November 2018, 30 November 2020, 25 April 2022)