Ectopatria spilonata (Lower, 1902)
White-spotted Saltbush Moth
 (erroneously known as Agrotis spilonota)
NOCTUINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

These caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Bladder Saltbush ( Atriplex vesicaria, CHENOPODIACEAE ).


    female, drawing by George F. Hampson, erroneously listed as Ectopatria spilomata    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume IV (1903), Plate LXXVII, figure 26,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    The adult moth has rusty brown forewings with a dark triangle, running from the middle of each forewing to the wingtip, containing pale spots. The hind wings are buff coloured, with dark veins. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

    The species occurs in Australia, including

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    George F. Hampson,
    Noctuidae,
    Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum,
    Volume 4 (1903), p. 653, No. 1121, and also Plate 77, figure 26.

    Oswald B. Lower,
    Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 26 (1902), pp. 641-642.

    Peter Marriott & Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 9,
    Cutworms and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (C)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2020, pp. 30-31.

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    (updated 13 October 2011, 26 December 2020)