Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs MothsAustralian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides) Bag-shelter Moth & Processionary Caterpillar Chasmina pulchra (White Beauty) Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla) Godart’s Hawkmoth (Agrius godarti) Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian Fruitworm) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Leptocneria binotata Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth) Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni) Owlet Moth (Ophiusa parcemacula) Sameodes cancellalis (Banded Pearl) Yeperenye / Yipirinya
Belonging to the order Lepidoptera (class Insecta), Alice Springs is home to a great variety of moths, with Australia being home to more then 10,000 species of moths (and with many yet to be identified). Moths form a group of some 125 families worldwide, with 82 families of moths represented in Australia.
Whilst many species may seem to have duller colours to the butterflies, they are interesting in their own right. Alice Springs and Central Australia have some known genus/species including the Processionary Caterpillars (also known as the Bag-shelter Moth, Ochrogaster lunifer) and the Yeperenye / Australian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides).
As well as the winged adult species, keep an eye out for the various instar stages including caterpillar and pupa/chrysalis. Checkout some of the moths we have documented here in Alice Springs.
Click on the following images to see information on the listed moths.
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.
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.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
Footnote & References
- Moth, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth (last visited Feb. 8, 2022)
- Butterfly, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly (last visited Feb. 13, 2022)
- Families of Moths in Australia, by Don Herbison-Evans and Stella Crossley, Coffs Harbour Butterfly House, http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/moths.html
- Australian Moths Online, CSIRO, https://moths.csiro.au/
- Moths, butterflies and skippers: Order Lepidoptera, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/moths-butterflies-and-skippers-order-lepidoptera/
- What are the differences between butterflies and moths? Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/what-are-the-differences-between-butterflies-and-moths/
- Butterflies Australia, https://www.butterflies.org.au/
- Butterflies of Australia, Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths, Coffs Harbour Butterfly House, http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/butter.html
- BOIC, Butterfly & Other Invertebrates Club, https://boic.org.au/
- Butterflies and Moths, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/47157-Lepidoptera
- Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, https://australianbutterflies.com/
- 8 Differences Between Butterflies and Moths, Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, https://australianbutterflies.com/8-differences-between-butterflies-and-moths/
Alice Springs MothsAustralian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides) Bag-shelter Moth & Processionary Caterpillar Chasmina pulchra (White Beauty) Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla) Godart’s Hawkmoth (Agrius godarti) Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian Fruitworm) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Leptocneria binotata Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth) Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni) Owlet Moth (Ophiusa parcemacula) Sameodes cancellalis (Banded Pearl) Yeperenye / Yipirinya
Alice Springs Butterflies & Moths (Lepidopterans)Butterflies Moths
Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders
Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Apple Bush Bougainvillea Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander