Etanna basalis Walker, 1862
(one synonym: Dendrothripa mackwoodi Hampson, 1902)
SARROTHRIPINI,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

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

The caterpillar has been found feeding on the flowers of

  • Mango ( Mangifera species, ANACARDIACEAE).

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

    The adult male moth has greenish-brown forewings, each with a pattern of pale and dark markings, often including a pale area along the basal part of the hind-margin, and a wide dark wavy band across the middle of the wing. The hindwings are off-white, shading darker at the margins. The wings have slightly sinuous margins. The green sheen fades to brown in dead specimens. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

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

    The female moths also have a vague white arc curving across each forewing from base to wingtip.

    The species is found across south-east Asia, including:

  • Borneo,
  • Fiji,
  • New Guinea,
  • Singapore,
  • Sri Lanka,

    as well as in Australia in:

  • Queensland.

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


    Further reading :

    George F. Hampson,
    The Moths of India,
    Supplementary paper to the volumes in "The Fauna of British India". Series II, part IV,
    Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society,
    Volume 14 (1902), p. 211, No. 2236b.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of the Heterocerous Lepidopterous insects collected at Sarawak, in Borneo, by Mr. A.R. Wallace, with descriptions of new species,
    Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London,
    Volume 6 (1862), p. 119, No. 122.


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    (written 25 March 2019, updated 1 January 2021)