Abantiades atripalpis explained

Abantiades atripalpis, also known as bardee (bardy, bardi) grub, rain moth or waikerie, and previously known as Trictena atripalpis,[1] is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is found in the whole southern half of Australia.

Habitat

The rain moth is found right across southern Australia in woodland areas alongside creeks and gullies, especially near eucalyptus trees.[2]

Larvae

The caterpillar is used by fishermen as bait.[2] [3]

The larvae live in tunnels,[2] feeding on Casuarina pauper and Eucalyptus species, especially Eucalyptus camaldulensis.[3] They are herbivores.[2]

Moth

The wingspan is up to for males and for females. They can be the same size as a small insectivorous bat, and owls often prey on them. The body reaches a length of 120 mm.[4]

The adult females produce a great number (up to 40,000) of eggs, which are scattered while flying. Their flight months are in Autumn (April to June).[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Herbison-Evans . Don . Crossley . Stella . Abantiades atripalpis . Australian Butterflies and their Caterpillars . 22 April 2023 . 22 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230422063319/http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/hepi/atripalpis.html . live .
  2. Book: Natural Resources, Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges: Creature features2013 – 2019. Government of South Australia. NRM Education (Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License.
  3. Web site: Trictena atripalpis . Don Herbison-Evans & Stella Crossley . uts.edu.au . May 26, 2008 . 2009-02-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090924134635/http://linus.socs.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/hepi/atripal.html . September 24, 2009 .
  4. Web site: Sanctuary Lakes Resort - the Rain Moth. 1 May 2021. 23 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210323084922/https://www.sanctuarylakesresort.com.au/index.php/publications/natures-rubik/184-natures-rubick-the-rain-moth. live.
  5. Jennings, J.T., Austin, A.D., Davies, K., Harvey, M., Hirst, D. & Taylor, G. 2009, Terrestrial Invertebrates. In: Jennings, J.T. (Ed.) Natural History of the Riverland and Murraylands. (Royal Society of South Australia Inc.), pp. 306-333.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Abantiades atripalpis".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.