Metoeca foedalis (Guenée, 1854)
 (one synonym : Isopteryx leucothoalis Walker, 1859)
SPILOMELINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Metoeca foedalis
male
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The adult moths are dark brown, with white squiggly lines and spots. The female has darker markings with narrower white squiggles than the male. The moths have a wingspan of about 1.5 cms.

Metoeca foedalis
female
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The species has been found around the southern hemisphere, including :

  • Brazil,
  • Hong Kong,
  • India,
  • Japan,
  • Madagascar, and
  • Zambia,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Metoeca foedalis
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Achille Guenée,
    Deltoïdes et Pyralites,
    in Boisduval & Guenée:
    Histoire Naturelle des Insectes; Spécies Général des Lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 8 (1854), p. 228, No. 195.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 43.

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    (updated 8 August 2013, 14 January 2025)