Sighting 4372857
Lecithocera terrigena
Lecithocera terrigena at Melba, ACT
Identify this sighting
| Lecithocera terrigena | ibaird | 3 Mar 2021 | |
| Lecithocera terrigena | GlennCocking | 3 Mar 2021 | |
| Tritymba unidentified species | donhe | 22 Feb 2021 | |
| Tritymba unidentified species | GlennCocking | 22 Feb 2021 | |
| Oecophoridae (family) | donhe | 22 Feb 2021 | |
| Unverified | kasiaaus | 22 Feb 2021 |
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6 comments
3 Mar 2021
I'm not sure if this is significant but the antennae on this moth are dark as opposed to very light colour on all the other sightings under Lecithocera terrigena. I remember that I photographed this moth because I saw this difference.
3 Mar 2021
Yes, I noticed that and it was a part of the reason for originally suggesting Tritymba. But this morning I saw a light antenna in photo 2, and that was a part of changing my mind. Although the antennae are mostly light in the CNM records, iNAT photos show plenty of dark ones. I put a bunch of L. terrigena antennae under the microscope and it turns out that that each segment has two bands of scales going around the antenna and one of them varies from as light as the other one to being quite dark. In some specimens even the "light" scales are a little darker than the norm. So I think the angle of the photo and perhaps other lighting conditions is the cause of some antennae appearing light and others dark.
I was also puzzled by the apparently short palpi in the specimen compared to, say, your 4365820. But the males have distinctly shorter palpi than the females, and I think the angle of this photo of a male makes them look even shorter. 4365820 is a female.
Another explanation is that there may be another species involved. There are similar undescribed species.
I was also puzzled by the apparently short palpi in the specimen compared to, say, your 4365820. But the males have distinctly shorter palpi than the females, and I think the angle of this photo of a male makes them look even shorter. 4365820 is a female.
Another explanation is that there may be another species involved. There are similar undescribed species.
3 Mar 2021
Thanks for the explanation Glenn. I'm still convinced that the antennae on this moth were darker. I saw this moth in proximity of other moths which had light antennae and it was very clear that they were different. It could be a variation or maybe, like you say, a different species.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.050168-35.208525
- Altitude 571.5m
- Places Melba, ACT
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- 19 Feb 2021 10:09 PM Recorded on
- kasiaaus Recorded by
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
Collections
- kasiaaus Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Curved-horn moths (all Gelechioidea except Oecophoridae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects Lecithocera terrigena
Species information
- Lecithocera terrigena Scientific name
- Lecithocera terrigena Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1797.2m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
6 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Additional attributes
- Description