TEST
Insects
Moths (Lepidoptera)
Other moths
Sighting 4367478

Dialectica scalariella/aemula

Echium Leaf Miners at Melba, ACT

Dialectica scalariella/aemula at Melba, ACT - 5 Jan 2021 11:27 PM
Dialectica scalariella/aemula at Melba, ACT - 5 Jan 2021 11:27 PM
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Identification history

Dialectica scalariella/aemula 18 Jan 2021 ibaird
Dialectica scalariella/aemula 18 Jan 2021 kasiaaus

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5 comments

donhe wrote:
   18 Jan 2021
Do you know how to distinguish this from Dialectica aemula?
Any Echium plantagineum in the vicinity?
ibaird wrote:
   18 Jan 2021
No.
donhe wrote:
   18 Jan 2021
The moths are superficially similar. The native species D. scalariella was introduced to feed on Echium plantagineum as D. aemula does not feed on it. If there is no E. plantagineum locally, the moths are probably D. aemula.
Tosio and Marianne wrote an article on how to distinguish them:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1997.tb01427.x
but I do not have access to it. Maybe until we have access to it, we should just refer these to 'Dialectica species'.
ibaird wrote:
   19 Jan 2021
I can assure you there is plenty of E. plantagineum in Canberra, but whether its plentiful in Melba I'm not sure. I would be surprised if it were not present there. Thanks for the reference. I have access to it online. Excellent photos but of set specimens, of course. I have sent you via email a PDF copy of the paper.
kasiaaus wrote:
   19 Jan 2021
There is no E. plantagineum near where I took the photo that I know of but that does not mean that it's not there somewhere out of my sight.

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Additional information

  • 5mm to 12mm Animal size

Species information

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