Nemophora (genus)

A Fairy Moth at Murrumbateman, NSW

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Identification history

Nemophora (genus)	8 Apr 2022	ibaird
Nemophora (genus)	7 Apr 2022	donhe
Nemophora sparsella	6 Apr 2022	SimoneC

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User's notes

Moths in the ACT seems to suggest that Nemophora on Acacia may be another species, and that N. sparsella should be expected on Bursaria in Jan/Feb rather than this time of year - but they certainly look like a good match

4 comments

donhe wrote:

7 Apr 2022

I think it is also a good match to Nemophora opalina.

ibaird wrote:

7 Apr 2022

This moth has an orange topknot. Only one moth each out of threee posted on the ALA and iNaturalist shows N. opalina with an orange head.

SimoneC wrote:

7 Apr 2022

Not sure but I think there may be some sexual dimorphism in Nemophora, I think the females (with shorter antennae) have topknots while the males (with long filamentous antennae) lack topknots but have much bigger eyes. This is evident in the two photos of N. sparsella in Moths in the ACT

CathB wrote:

7 Apr 2022

Interesting. I just had a quick look through the sightings on CNM of both N. sparsella and sp., and the topknots do seem to go with smaller eyes and shorter antennae. The ones where you can see long antennae seem to have the bulbous eyes which don't leave much room for a topknot.

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