Lichen Moth

Description:

Erebidae; Arctiinae; Lithosiini; Xanthetis luzonica (Felder 1875). "Xanthetis is a monotypic moth genus in the family Erebidae erected by George Hampson in 1900. Its single species, Xanthetis luzonica, was first described by Felder in 1875. It is found in the Philippines." Wikipedia.

Habitat:

This moth was spotted on one of the concrete columns which support our carport roof.

Notes:

Identification of species is always difficult for me, as an amateur naturalist and I think that I am probably not alone in this. The moth shown here is a good example of how mistakes can be made by those of us who do not have training in this field. You can see from the information above that this moth is Xanthetis luzonica, the only species in the Genus Xanthetis. Once you know that Xanthetis is a monotypic moth genus, nothing could be easier. All you have to do is find a moth that looks yours and there you have it. However, if you don't know that Xanthetis is monotypic then this is what can happen (at least to me it did). I came across two moths, Barsine spp. which looked very close to mine and I thought, well they look pretty close, so if I can't find the exact species, I can call mine Barsine sp. Oh, not so fast...here is one that looks good - Darantasia cunciplena, but not exactly the same as mine so how about Darantasia sp.? Mmm... maybe not. Better look some more. Ah, now I'm getting somewhere. Here are two Lyclene spp. both pretty close to mine and some more Lyclene spp. not quite so close but I must be in the right ball park now. So, Lyclene sp. it is. No it's not because at last I see Xanthetis luzonica, my goodness it is even named after the place where I live, Luzon. So there we are! But what on earth is this, another one slightly different, but still Xanthetis luzonica. By now, you can see that I am on the point of losing my mind. I am sure you have all had similar experiences. For the untrained enthusiast, identifying organisms can be a roller-coaster ride but its great fun and when I eventually reach the correct ID, I feel like I am Linnaeus or Darwin and so do you. Go on, admit it secretly to yourself :-) Happy spotting everyone.