Common Bark Moth at Franklin, ACT
Identification history
| Ectropis excursaria | 6 Oct 2025 | ibaird | ||
| Ectropis (genus) | 6 Oct 2025 | ibaird | ||
| Ectropis excursaria | 6 Oct 2025 | chriselidie |
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User's notes
Adult moth of caterpillar shown in sighting 4695797. Looks to be a female moth.
5 comments
ibaird
wrote:
6 Oct 2025
Probably is E. excursaria given your other records, but I cannot be sure from the photo alone! That is because the hindwing feature that WendyEM mentions below that identifies E. excursaria from other Ectropis (genus) species.is not visible here in this shot.
WendyEM
wrote:
6 Oct 2025
An important feature that separates E. excursaria from similar species is that the main dark line running across the hindwing is fairly straight but turns upward as it approaches the edge of the wing, and has a step at the end. This part of the line is not visible in live shots. The forewings need to be further open - which you can sometimes do by gently nudging the wing across with a stick maybe your finger. It depends how flighty the moth is. Another feature is the male's antennae. Your moth could be Ectropis bispinaria in which the male antennae have very short, fine pectinations. (E. excursaria also has fine short pectinations but they are a bit longer) I think I can see very short pectinations on your moth. I am not an anatomist but I think this is a male moth ? Your sightings are very important as you have raised them through so we are trying to get this right.
chriselidie
wrote:
6 Oct 2025
The reason I thought that this might be a female is because it was the only one of 10 similar moths hatched so far without pectinations on the antennae. Also different is that I found it hanging off its container roof exposing its abdomen and wafting a tube-like attachment (like an ovipositor? - shown in some of the pictures) through the air. This one was also the only one that was not eager to get going - it seems too heavy to fly very far. It was still resting under a tree, so I could take more photos. It wouldn't let me touch its wings, but has positioned itself a bit better now - hope these photos (no 1 and 2) are of more help.
Location information
- Places Franklin, ACT
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- chriselidie Recorded by
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Collections
chriselidie NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Ectropis excursaria Geometer moths (Geometridae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects
Additional information
- Caterpillar on lemon tree Associated plant
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
Species information
- Ectropis excursaria Scientific name
- Common Bark Moth Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 696.15m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
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Synonyms
Tephrosia exportaria
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
