(previously known as Hectomanes pteromela) Heath Fraus HEPIALIDAE, HEPIALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Donald Hobern, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
The adult moths of this species are brown with a white streak from the base to the tip of each forewing. The scales on the wings are very loose, easily rubbing off. The male moths have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms. The females have a wingspan of about 3.5 cms.
The species is found over most of the southern half of Australia, including
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 2.7, p. 145.
Axel Kallies,
Moths of Victoria - Part 6,
Ghost Moths - HEPIALIDAE and Allies,
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2015, pp. 6-9.
Oswald B. Lower,
Descriptions of new South Australian Lepidoptera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 15 (1892), pp. 5-6.
Nielsen E.S. & Kristensen N.P.
Primitive Ghost Moths : Morphology and Taxonomy of the
Australian Genus Fraus Walker
(Lepidoptera: Hepialidae s. lat.)
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 1,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 1989.
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 42.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 25 October 2010, 9 April 2021)