Hecatesia fenestrata

5 Common Whistling Moth at Acton, ACT

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Identification history

Hecatesia fenestrata	7 Oct 2020	donhe
Hecatesia fenestrata	7 Oct 2020	ibaird
Unidentified	7 Oct 2020	leith7

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3 comments

ibaird wrote:

7 Oct 2020

This is a male (see whistling structure in each forewing). First sighting of this interesting day-flying moth species on CNM. Male of the species has a unique wing structures which allows it to generate a whistling noise thought to attract females. Females don't have the whistling ability. Food plant recorded as the dodder laurel: Cassytha melanta (Devil's Twine). Has been recorded on Black Mountain previously (ANIC specimen, both sexes, wing fragments only, see images Bold Systems 4). Males of H. fenestrata are diurnal, flying a figure of eight pattern at dusk, whistling to attract females (Zborowski and Edwards 2007).

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

7 Oct 2020

Hi Leith. I have downloaded one of the original photos and cropped it, and added it back to be used on the Species page when confirmed.

leith7 wrote:

7 Oct 2020

Thank you so much!

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Location information

Sighting information

1 Abundance
6 Oct 2020 11:58 PM Recorded on
leith7 Recorded by
Collections
My flagged sightings Featured Insects Moths (Lepidoptera) Noctuoid moths (except Arctiinae) leith7 Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr

Species information

Hecatesia fenestrata Scientific name
Common Whistling Moth Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 754m 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