| (formerly known as Charagia scotti) HEPIALIDAE, HEPIALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
male
(Photo: courtesy of Ethan Beaver,
Mt Warning, New South Wales)
|
| (formerly known as Charagia scotti) HEPIALIDAE, HEPIALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
male
(Photo: courtesy of Ethan Beaver,
Mt Warning, New South Wales)
The Caterpillars of this moth feed by boring into the stems of many species of trees and bushes, including
The pupa is pushed partly out of its borehole for the adult moth to emerge.
The adult moths of both sexes of this species have green forewings and orange hindwings, and an orange abdomen that shades to green at the tip. The males have a pheromone-producing scale tuft on each hind leg. The wingspan is from 5 to 10 cms.
The species occurs in Australia in
The moths are superficially similar to those of Aenetus edwardsi, but occur to the south of Townsville, Queensland, whereas Aenetus edwardsi occurs in areas to the north of Townsville.
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 2.13, p. 148.
John Moss and Ian Ferrier,
A Ghost Moth Story – Notes on Aenetus scotti (Scott, 1869)
Lepidoptera: Hepialidae,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 63 (December 2011), pp. 15-18.
Alexander Walker Scott,
On the genus Charagia of Walker,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of New South Wales,
Volume 2 (1869) pp. 1, 4-6.
Thomas J. Simonsen,
Splendid Ghost Moths and their Allies,
A Revision of Australian Abantiades, Oncopera, Aenetus, Archaeoaenetus and Zelotypia (Hepialidae),
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 12,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2018, pp. 138-139, p.272 plate 26.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 29 April 2016, updated 24 July 2024)