A Swift or Ghost moth (Hepialidae) at Parkes, ACT
Identification history
| Elhamma australasiae | 17 Feb 2026 | ibaird | ||
| Elhamma australasiae | 14 Feb 2026 | WendyEM | ||
| Unverified | 13 Feb 2026 | TimL |
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User's notes
Additional information for previous sighting 4720801. The images show a female Ghost Moth having laid a high number of eggs before dying. The second image shows the sheer number of eggs laid. The third image shows the underside of the dead moth. I understand these moths have no mouth parts to feed with and after mating and dispersing their eggs they die after a few days. The images provide close up detail of the eggs with the final image showing an interesting feature. (I’m not an expert on moths or this process so maybe one of NatureMapr’s experts could correct this information if necessary). The tiny eggs were initially white when laid and quickly turned colour to brown and then black. The eggs were initially spherical in shape, but some turned into flattened oval shapes over time and developed indentations before splitting open. The outer surface of each egg was covered with a membranous coating. As some eggs changed shape from spherical to oval, the membranous coating delaminated, allowing air into the delamination folds which in turn formed hexagonal cell-like patterns. The final 5X image shows a split open, flattened, oval egg casing with this delamination pattern.
6 comments
WendyEM
wrote:
14 Feb 2026
TimL - very interesting shots. Do you have a flat-on shot of the whole wing? (replace underside shot or not - hindwing colour is also useful) Shape and pattern on wing is helpful for ID.
I doubt this is Abantiades (genus). The moth's wing length is ~ the diameter of $1 AUS coin which is 25mm diam (according to WWW - I only have $2s to hand). Going by Moths of Victoria Pt6 the smallest (male, females are bigger) Abantiades sp is about 30mm. I was going to suggest Elhamma australasiae, which had been recorded recintly on NM, but females of that sp may be a bit big for this one. Above moth has pink hindwings. Oncopera sp are more in the size range but none have the pink hindwings. A smaller, red tinged Elhamma australasiae I think.
I doubt this is Abantiades (genus). The moth's wing length is ~ the diameter of $1 AUS coin which is 25mm diam (according to WWW - I only have $2s to hand). Going by Moths of Victoria Pt6 the smallest (male, females are bigger) Abantiades sp is about 30mm. I was going to suggest Elhamma australasiae, which had been recorded recintly on NM, but females of that sp may be a bit big for this one. Above moth has pink hindwings. Oncopera sp are more in the size range but none have the pink hindwings. A smaller, red tinged Elhamma australasiae I think.
TimL
wrote:
14 Feb 2026
Hi @WendyEM This is the same moth shown in detail in sighting 4720801 as evidenced by the wear behind the head where all of the scales have gone. Does this help with the information you need? Tim
Location information
- Coordinates 149.141727-35.298513
- Maps Lake Burley Griffin Central/East Mount Ainslie to Black Mountain
- Places Parkes, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 12 Feb 2026 02:11 PM Recorded on
- TimL Recorded by
-
Collections
TimL NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Latest Elhamma australasiae Swift and Ghost moths (Hepialidae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects
Additional information
- 25mm to 50mm Animal size
Species information
- Elhamma australasiae Scientific name
- A Swift or Ghost moth (Hepialidae) Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1117.9m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
-
Synonyms
Porina banghaasii Porina banghaasi
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