Alice Springs Butterflies & Moths

Alice Springs Fauna •

Alice Springs Butterflies & MothsAntlion (Heoclisis fundata) Australian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides) Bag-shelter Moth & Processionary Caterpillar Blue Moon Butterfly Caper White Butterfly, Egg and Instar Chasmina pulchra (White Beauty) Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla) Glasswing (Acraea andromacha) Godart’s Hawkmoth (Agrius godarti) Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian Fruitworm) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Leptocneria binotata Lesser Wanderer (Danaus petilia) Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth) Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni) Sameodes cancellalis (Banded Pearl) Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) Yeperenye / Yipirinya

— see Alice Springs Insects ◦

Butterflies and moths are known collectively as lepidopterans, belonging to the order Lepidoptera, in the class Insecta. Alice Springs is home to a great variety of butterflies and moths. As well as the winged adult species, keep an eye out for the various instar stages including caterpillar and pupa/chrysalis.

Click on the following images to see information on the butterflies / moths.

Aedia arctipennis - pictured on the Potato Vine (Ipomoea costata), Alice Springs, NT — Aedia arctipennis

Hairy Antlion (Heoclisis fundata, family Myrmeleontidae), Alice Springs NT — Hairy Antlion (Heoclisis fundata)

Australian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides), Alice Springs NT — Australian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides)

Bag-shelter Moth (Ochrogaster lunifer), Alice Springs NT — Bag-shelter Moth and Processionary Caterpillar

Caper White Butterfly (Belenois java teutonia) laying their eggs on the Caper Bush (Capparis spinosa var. nummularia) — Caper White Butterfly (Belenois java teutonia)

Chasmina pulchra, Alice Springs NT — Chasmina pulchra (White Beauty)

Sandal-box Hawk Moth (Coenotes eremophilae) — Coenotes eremophilae (nstar Sandal-box Hawk Moth)

Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli), Alice Springs, NT — Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli)

Witchetty Grub Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla) — Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla)

Day Flying Moth (Comocrus behri) feeding on Red-capped Gum (Eucalyptus erythrocorys) — Day Flying Moth (Comocrus behri)

Four-spotted Cup Moth (Doratifera quadriguttata) — Doratifera quadriguttata (Four-spotted Cup Moth)

Glasswing (Acraea andromacha), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer — Glasswing (Acraea andromacha)

Agrius godarti (Godart’s Hawkmoth), Alice Springs NT — Godart’s Hawkmoth (Agrius godarti)

Australian Fruitworm (Helicoverpa punctigera), Alice Springs NT — Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian Fruitworm)

Heliotrope Moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides), Alice Springs Desert Park NT — Heliotrope Moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides)

Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera), Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs NT — Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera)

Leptocneria binotata, Alice Springs NT — Leptocneria binotata

Lesser wanderer (Danaus petilia), Alice Springs NT — Lesser wanderer (Danaus petilia)

Meadow Argus Butterfly (Junonia villida)

Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth), Alice Springs NT — Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth)

Lawson's Night Moth / Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni), Alice Springs NT — Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni)

Plume Moth (family Pterophoridae), Alice Springs, NT — Plume Moth (family Pterophoridae)

Ribbed Case Moth (Hyalarcta nigrescens), Alice Springs, NT — Ribbed Case Moth (Hyalarcta nigrescens)

Sameodes cancellalis, Alice Springs NT — Sameodes cancellalis (Banded Pearl)

Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore), Alice Springs Sewerage Ponds NT © Dorothy Latimer — Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore)

White-spotted Owl-Moth (Donuca spectabilis)

Yellow Palm Dart (Cephrenes trichopepla), Alice Springs, NT — Yellow Palm Dart (Cephrenes trichopepla)

Yeperenye / Yipirinya Caterpillar, Alice Springs, NT — Yeperenye / Yipirinya (Hyles livornicoides)

Many online resources often group moths and butterflies together, however moths outnumber butterflies in both numbers and species. In Australia alone, there are over 10,500 species of moths, compared with about 400 species of butterflies. Whilst there are very few species of butterflies yet to be discovered, in Australia there is estimated to be at least another 10,000 moth species yet to be discovered, studied and named.

Whilst there are some rules for distinguishing between moths and butterflies, they are not well established. One guiding principle to distinguish between the two, is that butterflies have thin antennae and (with the exception of the family Hedylidae) have small balls or clubs at the end of their antennae. Moth antennae are usually feathery with no ball on the end. The divisions are named by this principle: “club-antennae” (Rhopalocera) or “varied-antennae” (Heterocera). Lepidoptera differs between butterflies and other organisms due to evolving a special characteristic of having the tube-like proboscis in the Middle Triassic which allowed them to acquire nectar from flowering plants.¹

Butterflies and moths have a number of differences, although there are exceptions to the rules. The main differences include:

Butterflies are active during the day, whilst moths are usually active at night (although there are plenty of moths that you may see during the day).
Butterflies have knobs at the end of their antennae; moths have antennae without knobs at the end.
Butterflies are usually brightly coloured; moths are usually dull (although there are a number of brightly coloured moths).
Butterflies rest with their wings held vertically; moths rest with their wings flat (although there are some moths that are mistaken for butterflies).

The following Day Flying Moth (Comocrus behri) seen here feeding on Red-capped Gum (Eucalyptus erythrocorys) in Alice Springs, is often mistaken for a butterfly.