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Luna Gypsy Moth ♂

Lymantria lunata

Description:

Beautiful brown-grayish moth, about 3.5cm in length. I spotted it around noontime snuggled at a stem very close to the bark of the plant, making it not easy to notice. Lymantria lunata (Stoll, 1782), the Luna Gypsy Moth, is a species of moth of the Lymantriidae family. It is found in Southeast Asia, from India to the northeast coast of Australia. The wingspan is about 60 mm. The body is brown and the wings are white with a pattern of brown lines on the forewings. The larvae have been recorded feeding on Mangifera indica, Buchanania muelleri and Ficus benjamina.

Habitat:

Backyard; spotted on one of the branches of the Schefflera arboricola plant (Dwarf Umbrella Tree).

Notes:

Reference: http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Tax... http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life... http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/ac.... Compare with Lymantria lunata diversa (Turner) - http://www.ces.csiro.au/aicn/system/c_27....

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7 Comments

AgnesAdiqueTalavera
AgnesAdiqueTalavera 11 years ago

Thanks J for helping ID and close this one. :)

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 11 years ago

Agreed. L. lunata for sure. Nice catch, Agnes!

AgnesAdiqueTalavera
AgnesAdiqueTalavera 11 years ago

Thanks J for looking into this. It seems L. dispar does not include Philippines in its range. How about L. lunata (http://v2.boldsystems.org/views/taxbrows...), a Southeast Asian gypsy moth?

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 11 years ago

I would say Lymantria dispar asiatica, though the bottom forewing is supposed to be dark, and not as light as the rest of the forewing.

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 11 years ago

This looks like a male Lymantria sp. I'm checking out some species for you.

AgnesAdiqueTalavera
AgnesAdiqueTalavera 11 years ago

Thanks Leanne. I only regret that I was not able to get a shot of its face.

LeanneGardner
LeanneGardner 11 years ago

Beautiful antanna!

Laguna, Philippines

Spotted on Dec 11, 2012
Submitted on Dec 15, 2012

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Reference

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