Erebid Moth

Description:

Erebidae; Erebinae; Erebini; Erebus (type genus) Erebus sp. This moth is beyond my descriptive skills. So I will fall back on the old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" and ask you to bear with me and just have a look. There are many pictures of Erebus spp. which can be viewed online, but I could not find a match. My old favourite, Philippine Lepidoptera has three specimens labelled Erebus sp. nr. crepuscularis and my moth has some features which appear to match some aspects of those three. However, when you get down to "this bit looks like that one, but this other bit looks more like this one" then you are in deep trouble. The long and the short of it is that I don't know if my moth is nr. crepuscularis because I cannot see a crepuscularis. Trying to identify my moth because it looks like another moth which resembles... well you get my point. It reminds me of the old days of photo copy machines - if you make a copy of an original then you have something, but make a copy of a copy and you you have nothing but a problem. So, once again, I find myself taking the easy way out and surrendering to a rather vague Erebus sp.

Habitat:

This moth's habitat is absolutely right here where I live. This one came into my house through the open door and flew around with me in hot pursuit with my camera. This has happened many times over the years with Erebus spp. I have seen them in the car port and in my workshop, in the rice mill and even in my dog's kennel. I would say that I have seen them in our buildings much more frequently than in our garden. Of one thing I am certain. These moths like dark corners and shun bright places. So I find myself constantly using flash, and still brightening my pictures to make them useable.

Notes:

No exact match for my specimen, but some similar pictures - https://philepidoptera.wixsite.com/moths...