Diarsia intermixta

1 Chevron Cutworm, Orange Peel Moth. at Cook, ACT

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Identification history

Diarsia intermixta	12 Apr 2021	CathB
Diarsia intermixta	25 Mar 2021	donhe
Tineola bisselliella	23 Feb 2021	donhe
Unidentified	23 Feb 2021	CathB

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User's notes

This moth has been caught by a Celaenia excavata spider. It looks the same as those shown in sightings 4370608, 4371024 and 4248909. The prey of this spider has been identified as Spodoptera mauritia in Brisbane (see comments in first sighting above). The photos of the spider feeding were taken at about 8 am. When I returned about 5 hours later, I found the discarded remains caught on a leaf below and the spider returned to its usual position with its 6 egg sacs. I have kept the moth if anyone wants a closer look.

8 comments

Bron wrote:

23 Feb 2021

Fascinating Cath - it's great to watch a creature over time if you're fortunate enough to be able to do it. Good luck getting an id.

donhe wrote:

23 Feb 2021

Now we have a clear photo of the moth's head, it is evidently in Tineoidea, very different from Spodoptera mauritia which is in Noctuoidea.

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

23 Feb 2021

Very exciting, when ID is confirmed I'm thinking that it would be good to write this up somewhere as a sort note.

CathB wrote:

24 Feb 2021

The other sightings of Tineola bisselliella seem to be smaller than this moth. The length of this specimen from head to wing tip as seen in the third image is 2 cm. It is tightly wrapped in silk, so difficult to tell its original shape.

donhe wrote:

25 Feb 2021

Yes, that is a rather big for T. bisselliella. The Psychidae also have the Tineoid fur hat, and are a bit bigger. The only completely brown one I know is Lepidoscia basiferana. That has a wingspan of about 3 cms.

GlennCocking wrote:

27 Feb 2021

Cath gave me the moth specimen in this record. The moth certainly looked in its webbing very much the same as the main photo in 4371024. I wasn't too optimistic about how it would survive web removal, but after relaxing it and then breaking some of the threads around the head and across the wings and abdomen, the rest of the web slid off over the rear of the moth in a sleeve. The antennae, palpi and legs sprung out into the positions typical of a dead moth. It’s now on a setting board with the wings fully spread and body exposed. It's not Spodoptera mauritia. I think it’s Diarsia intermixta, a common ACT moth regularly reported on CNM, but I don't want to commit to that until I can see it free of the setting board when it dries out in a week or two. This species and Spodoptera mauritia are from the same family Noctuidae. It's worth noting that there is a different species in the group of four moths in the second 4373081 photo - it looks rather like Pseudanapaea transvestita of the very different family Limacodidae (also on CNM).

GlennCocking wrote:

25 Mar 2021

The moth is a FEMALE Diarsia intermixta. This surprise is shown by the antennal structure and the ovipositor that extends from the base of the abdomen. I returned the set moth to Cath in the hope that she’ll be able to add a photo of it to this record.
Cath later gave me 7 other webbed moths from underneath the spider. They seemed light, perhaps because the spider captures the moths, immobilises them in web, sucks the juices, and drops them. These moths were all male Proteuxoa tortisigna (on CNM).
This seems to support the idea that the spider attracts males of a species, not the same species in all regions, but at least species with an evolutionary relationship. Spodoptera mauritia and Proteuxoa tortisigna are both of family Noctuidae, subfamily Noctuinae. The female Diarsia intermixta, and the apparent capture of a species from a different family indicated in another CNM report (Pseudanapaea transvestita in 4373081) might be explained as opportunistic by-catches.

CathB wrote:

12 Apr 2021

I have replaced two of the original photos with ones of the same moth after being set by Glenn Cocking. The last image shows the tip of the abdomen with what I believe is the ovipositor just visible.

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