Lepidoptera sp. unclassified ADULT moth at Ainslie, ACT

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Identification history

	Lepidoptera sp. unclassified ADULT moth	22 Dec 2020	GlennCocking
	Uraba lugens	21 May 2020	jbromilow50

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11 comments

jbromilow50 wrote:

21 May 2020

Male, feather antennae and smaller than the female

ibaird wrote:

21 May 2020

Not sure this is U. lugens. There is a distinct scallop patterned margin to the forewings and a short mid line at each forewing tip which I can't see in our other U. lugens specimens.

donhe wrote:

21 May 2020

The shape and posture look good to me for Nolinae, but I think the shapes of the zigzag transverse lines, and the absence of the smoothly curved dark central band, look wrong for Uraba lugens.

GlennCocking wrote:

27 May 2020

Could it be an extremely plain Dysbatus specimen? I have seen some without the usual transverse wiggly lines, and the line towards the fw tip the Ian points to would satisfy Dysbatus. John, were the originals as grey as these photos rather than a little brown? Do you have an upperside photo of the male?

jbromilow50 wrote:

27 May 2020

These photos are the dorsal and ventral side of the same moth. It has feather antennae and so I assume it's a male. My understanding is that a female U. lugens is quite a bit longer than the male (No female was sighted on the night). I really don't know what it is but thought that a male U. lugens was a possibility.

jbromilow50 wrote:

27 May 2020

The photos were taken close up with a 100mm macro lens with a ring flash, slightly off centre to avoid reflection and so should be fairly accurate.

jbromilow50 wrote:

27 May 2020

What about Nola desmotes?

ibaird wrote:

27 May 2020

I say not N. desmotes because of the scallop patterned margin to the forewings and a short mid line at each forewing tip which no images of that species on the ALA show.

jbromilow50 wrote:

27 May 2020

Also N. desmotes does not have feather antennae. Is that the case for all Nola?

GlennCocking wrote:

18 Oct 2020

Nola males generally have finely bipectinate or hairy antennae. This branches on this one are much stronger. I think they also look unipectinate, which matches Dysbatus. But that would still be a speculative identification.

donhe wrote:

18 Oct 2020

I think that the double arch in the basal line is inconsistent with Dysbatus, and the line at the forewing tip is inconsistent with most Nola. Groan.

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