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— see Southern Downs Butterflies & Moths

Species Anthela guenei (Newman, 1856), whose common name is Four-spot Anthelid Moth, although Atlas of Living Australia has the common name as Eight-Spot Anthelid. When the moth is in a rest position with the fore-wings folded back on top of the hind-wings, it appears to have “four spots”. When the hind-wings are revealed, another set of four spots are revealed, making a total of “eight spots” on the moth. Hence the other common name of Eight-Spot Anthelid.

Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Ballandean QLD © Marc Newman
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Ballandean QLD © Marc Newman
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Ballandean QLD © Marc Newman
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Ballandean QLD © Marc Newman

The male of the species have a wingspan of approximately 3.5 cm, whilts the female moth have a wingspan of about 4.5 cm.

Anthela guenei was previously known as Teara guenei.

Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Passchendaele QLD © Michael Jefferies
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Passchendaele QLD © Michael Jefferies

The underside of Anthela guenei. You can see a chuck has been taken out of the underside hind-wing.

Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Mt Marlay QLD © Michael Jefferies
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Mt Marlay QLD © Michael Jefferies
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Mt Marlay QLD © Michael Jefferies
Four-Spot Anthelid Moth (Anthela guenei), Mt Marlay QLD © Michael Jefferies
  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Hexapoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Lepidoptera
  • Unranked: Ditrysia
  • Superfamily: Bombycoidea
  • Family: Anthelidae
  • Subfamily: Anthelinae
  • Genus: Anthela
  • Species: Anthela guenei

Footnote & References

  1. Anthela guenei, Flickr © Marc Newman
  2. Anthela guenei, Flickr © Michael Jefferies,
  3. Anthela guenei (Newman, 1856), Eight-Spot Anthelid, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/db3c0de2-e932-4fb1-bec9-630c2006f8d1
  4. Anthela guenei (Newman, 1856), Australian Moths Online, CSIRO, https://moths.csiro.au/species_taxonomy/anthela-guenei/
  5. Anthela guenei (Newman, 1856), Four-Spot Anthelid, Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths, https://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/anth/guenei.html
  6. Anthela guenei (Newman, 1856), Lepidoptera, https://lepiforum.org/wiki/page/Anthela_guenei_En

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