Grey Crest-moth
Female, underwings
Ellura
Black-banded Crest-moth
S3, Male, dorsal, wings spread
 
                      
Grey Crest-moth (Chlenias banksiaria)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Nacophorini)
Species: Grey Crest-moth (Chlenias banksiaria)
This Photo:     Female, ventral

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Head & body ~15mm, wingspan ~43mm.
This is a species complex; meaning there are different species in the group that match the known diagnositcs. A revision of the species needs to be done to determine new diagnostics to split the group into separate species.
Both genders have bipectinate antennae, however the pectinations are tiny on the female looking like filiform antennae to the naked eye, or the wrong angle.
The Nisista MoV3, shown below, is our most common crest moth. It's difficult to find the few of these rarer species amongst the hoards of the others.

Copyright © 2018-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 18-May-2018
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.