Ectropis (genus)

An engrailed moth at Conder, ACT

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Identification history

Ectropis (genus)	20 May 2019	GlennCocking
Ectropis (genus)	9 May 2019	donhe
Didymoctenia exsuperata	2 Oct 2017	GlennCocking
Didymoctenia exsuperata	13 Sep 2017	MichaelBedingfield

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User's notes

Wingspan 40mm, reported here before - this sighting includes photo of underside...... Conder, ACT

3 comments

ibaird wrote:

14 Sep 2017

The underside image clearly also shows the male antennae with the long pectinations. However what concerns me is that this moth shows quite a straight black line in the hindwing, whereas all images of D. exsuperata I've compared it with elsewhere on both the ALA and the Moths of Victoria CD show D. exsuperata has a distinctly curved, not straight black line in the upper view of the hindwing. A key provided on the Moths Victoria CD comparing three Ectropis spp. ie. E. excursaria, E. bispinaria and E. calida would suggest this specimen would quite closely fit E. calida (i.e. it has a male antennae with long pectinations and a relatively straight black hindwing line). For comparison there is one image of E. calida on the ALA, see http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:2f23f390-a830-46ce-bbf9-37aa37d0a6f1#gallery

ibaird wrote:

10 May 2019

I reiterate I doubt this speciment is D. exsuperata because of the straight hindwing line whereas in the D. exsuperata examples I see online the main hindwing line is strongly curved. The antennae is pectinate (can be seen better under magnification) consistent with a male Ecropis sp. but the pectinations vary in length: shorter at the base, longer at mid-length and shorter at towards the tip (i.e more lke P. cognata, but not aspronounced). These pectinations are quite unlike the short even-lengthed pectinations shown for E. excursaria and E. bispinaria on MoV (see the Part 7 supporting PDF file). As mentioned above, there is a similar looking specimen named E. calida on the ALA. and on the MovV Éctropis species' supporting PDF file. I have not found any suitable photos online of the underside of Ecrtropis species to compare the second image with.

donhe wrote:

10 May 2019

I think the antennae are too indistinct to make a judgement, but the straightish hind-wing line makes it Ectropis species.

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Location information

Coordinates 149.101436 -35.464703
Altitude 630.0m
Maps MichaelBedingfied's Home Garden
Places Conder, ACT

Sighting information

At least 1 Abundance
11 Sep 2017 10:58 PM Recorded on
MichaelBedingfield Recorded by
Collections
MichaelBedingfield Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Geometer moths (Geometridae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects

Additional information

25mm to 50mm Animal size

Species information

Ectropis (genus) Scientific name
An engrailed moth Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 819.15m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania