A Noctuid moth at O'Connor, ACT
Identification history
| Proteuxoa (genus) | 9 Aug 2021 | donhe | ||
| Proteuxoa (genus) | 9 Aug 2021 | SuziBond | ||
| Jalmenus evagoras | 9 Aug 2021 | donhe | ||
| Unidentified | 7 Aug 2021 | NedJohnston |
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5 comments
SuziBond
wrote:
9 Aug 2021
Hi Don, curious what features make you think Jalmenus evagoras? Doesn't look right to me for Jalmenus, it looks more like a moth larva.
donhe
wrote:
9 Aug 2021
Yes: the herring-bone pattern does match that of some Proteuxoa species. But it's pattern also matches photos of J. evagoras larvae that I have seen, and it's length is only about 1 cm., which is consistent with being a Lycaenid. I was hoping the butterfly moderators more familiar with Jalmenus larvae would jump on me and tell me it is NOT a Lycaenid. Attendant ants would have favoured the Lycaenid hypothesis. The other feature that would distinguish the possibilities is whether it was cylindrical or flattened. This is not clear from the posted photos. I was hoping Ned could enlighten us on these questions.
SuziBond
wrote:
9 Aug 2021
Thanks Don. Curious to hear what the other butterfly moderators think, but I'm confident that it is not Jalmenus and not a Lycaenid either.
NedJohnston
wrote:
9 Aug 2021
Hi Don,
There were no ants that I noticed in the vicinity and the insect itself was travelling fast in a straight direction seemingly oblivious to any other bugs. It was cylindrical in shape and moved by stretching itself in, raising the middle before stretching out again. I agree it's not very clear in the photos. I believe the length was somewhere around the 12mm mark rather than the 5mm.
There were no ants that I noticed in the vicinity and the insect itself was travelling fast in a straight direction seemingly oblivious to any other bugs. It was cylindrical in shape and moved by stretching itself in, raising the middle before stretching out again. I agree it's not very clear in the photos. I believe the length was somewhere around the 12mm mark rather than the 5mm.
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Nearby sightings
Location information
- Coordinates 149.109589-35.259408
- Altitude 603.9m
- Maps Dryandra St Woodland
- Places O'Connor, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 7 Aug 2021 02:10 PM Recorded on
- NedJohnston Recorded by
Additional information
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
Species information
- Proteuxoa (genus) Scientific name
- A Noctuid moth Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-Invasive
- Up to 777m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
- External link More information
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Confirmed by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
