Chequered Ghost Moth
Male, on finger
Ellura
Chequered Ghost Moth
Male, ventral
 
                      
Chequered Ghost Moth (Fraus polyspila)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Swift Moth (:Hepialoidea Hepialidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Chequered Ghost Moth (Fraus polyspila)
This Photo:     Male, ventral
Other name: Chequered Fraus

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~13mm long & 32mm wingspan.
Typically Ghost moths are amoung the larger moths in Australia, spanning the width of a large hand. So it was a complete surprise to us to realise this little moth was in the same family as the giants

Apparantly the scales fall off very easily so on-line photo's look very different to each other as the pattern dissapears.
Thanks Ethan for letting us know the one we found is a male.

Copyright © 2018-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 17-Apr-2018
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.