Banded Pearl

Description:

Crambidae; Spilomelinae. Crambid Moths are usually not too difficult to identify if you are able to get both Dorsal and Ventral views in your photos. I have found that the Ventral view is generally the one presented by the moth when it is in its true habitat. Crambids usually hang upside-down on grass blades or stems. So, the Ventral view is not usually a problem, but how do you get your camera underneath the moth for a dorsal shot? Obviously, you can't. The vast majority of Dorsal photos of Crambids have been taken when the moth has landed on a wall. This tends to happen at night when the moth is attracted into your house by a light. So, if you are out in the field, the odds are not in your favour for a Dorsal shot, but you might be lucky and see one (very rarely) sitting right-way-up on a leaf. I wasn't lucky this time, so the best I can do for identification is Unidentified Spilomlinae, based on the snout, the eyes, the general shape of the wings and thelong legs, but I could still be wrong and might have the wrong Subfamily. If anyone has this ventral view and a Dorsal view to go with it, I would be grateful for an I.D. suggestion.

Habitat:

Spotted in a patch of weeds in our backyard.

Notes:

As can be seen from the comments below, this moth which I had to call Unidentified Spilomelinae (for the reasons given), can now be confirmed as Sameodes cancellalis, the same species as my spotting immediately before this one. I had been looking for photos of dorsal and ventral views of a single moth to confirm the ID, but didn't find one until arne.roysland provided me with a link to exactly what I needed to see. Thanks Arne.