Armactica conchidia (Butler, 1886)
Conchidia Moth
 (one synonym : Westermannia ocellata Lucas, 1894)
CHLOEPHORINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA,  
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Armactica conchidia
female
(Photo: copyright of Uwe Path, Alice Springs, Northern Territory)

The adult moths of this species are dimorphic. The females are fawn, and the forewings have a prominent dark brown patch on the hind margin.

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

The males are paler with dark brown patches extending to the forewing margins.

Armactica conchidia
female
(Photo: copyright of Uwe Path, Alice Springs, Northern Territory)

The hindwings of both sexes are pale brown, fading through yellow towards the bases. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

Armactica conchidia
female, drawing by George Francis Hampson,,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
Noctuidæ, Volume XI (1912), Plate CXCI, figure 23,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

The species has been found in :

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

    Armactica conchidia
    male, drawing by George Francis Hampson,    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume XI (1912), Plate CXCI, figure 22,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    Armactica conchidia
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of John Bromilow, Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory)

    Further reading :

    Arthur G. Butler,
    Descriptions of 21 new genera and 103 new species of Lepidoptera Heterocera from the Australian region,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1886, p. 402, No. 34.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 48.3, p. 457.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 2,
    Tiger Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 30-33.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 167.

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    (updated 14 April 2013, 18 January 2014, 24 October 2020)