Endoxyla encalypti

Very like Donald Hobern's photo at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhobern/3240053202/

I think it's the common E. encalypti

Does / did look very similar to the moth in Donald Hobern's photo (ie, Endoxyla leucomochla). Was beautifully mottled with white, grey, red / rust, and black on its wings. Diminished or no obvious mouth parts; and small eyes, or what I assume where eyes. Had a indistinct eye-marking in the middle of the wing. Interestingly, had a more pronounced head-thorax carapice than the one in Donald's image. If it was E. encalypti, wouldn't that make it a whittety grub moth? That would in turn mean it would have to feed on Acacia kempeana, or can they live in any wattle? Can't be too many Wittety Wattles in the ACT outside of the ANBG.

Also, not convinced of my wild guess at E. encalypti. The pictures are not a good match for what I saw. Is there a diachotomus key forCossidae?

The pronounced brown thorax of CNM 4242981 seems likely to be due to loss of scales on the thorax, and is consistent with Donald Hobern's specimen being younger and less worn.
Both species feed on the roots of Wattles, and are probably not fussed over the particular Acacia species.

I concur - Endoxyla leucomochla [https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:1d5211e7-c146-4107-b837-c73629c7a920#overview].

Very sorry, but don't know the local Ngunnawal or Wiradjuri name for this beautiful moth.

E. leucomochla is the classic ''Witchetty Grub' first formally described from inland SA and WA by Tindale (1951) as food of the local Indigenous people there known to feed on roots underground of Acacia species specifically A. kempeana (Witchetty Bush) and Small Cooba (A. ligulata), two wattle species which don't grow naturally in the ACT (see Common 1990), p. 271) E. encalypti is known as the Wattle Goat Moth mainly from the eastern seaboard of Australia recorded as feeding on the wood of Acacia sp generally including the roots. I expect this species would have been a food item for the local Ngunnawal people too. Both species are variable in appearance and generally similar so I think it often difficult to be dogmatic about either species based on their appearance alone. Both species have apparently been recorded in the ACT based on museum specimens ( I expect but don't know for sure). But based on the known ecology and geography E. encalypti seems most likely. This specimen is slender looking which I think favours E. encalypti but also shows russet colouration which is said to be indicative of E. leucomochla , but that could also be just due to wear. The curved white streaking on the forewing seems in general pattern unlike any other examples I can see online (ALA).

BOLD Systems 4 shows E. encalypti records from NSW including two from the ACT. Bold Systems 4 shows E. leucomochla records from SA, WA and Victoria, but none from the ACT or NSW.

No blue line around the thorax?

It is sometimes suggested that a blue line is indicative of E. encalypti. I don 't know how extensive it is in categorically identified museum specimens of this or other species or whether perhaps is a sex-linked characteristic. It has been suggested it shows up better in photos, see sighting No 4227380, however it appears not all moths identified as E. encalypti show a blue line in photos or in set specimens. I had a look on Bold Systems 4 and it seemed to me only 2 out of 19 specimens shown there clearly showed a blue line. Therefore I don't know whether the presence of a blue line is useful in a diagnostic sense.

Maybe it is a dimorphism. Can one tell the sex from the photos?

E. encalypti is the common ACT Endoxyla species, it's boreholes and "sawdust" can be found around the bases of many old wattles.