Wasp Moth
Head, profile
Ellura
Wasp Moth
Male, All wings showing
 
                      
Wasp Moth (Amata aperta)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Tiger Moth (:Noctuoidea Erebidae)
Species: Wasp Moth (Amata aperta)
This Photo:     Male, ventral
Other name: Day-flying Tiger Moth

Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying this species for us

EXTRA - Photo Specific Information:
NB: The black body bands thicken considerably underneath.
General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
We haven't seen them on Ellura until this one flew past one evening. A week later and we were happily inundated with them.
These species within the Amata genus are very difficult to distinguish; with even experts & the Australian National Insect Collection have trouble. They have a lot of varition within species, with A. Aperta generally having more orange head, and the area on the wing between the outside 2 patches being oranged, or an another blotch of orange. They all have orange patches on wings, with Black & orange striped body and a longitudinal orange stripe on each leg.
Males are larger & have a thinner body, compared with females.

Similar Species: Wasp Moth (Amata xanthura)

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 20-Mar-2014
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.