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Euteliid Moth
Targalla infida
15.4559, 119.922
Field Notes
Description:
Euteliidae is a family of small moths, of which one of the main identifying characteristics is the rest position. Species of this family often adopt a resting position where the wings are folded and the abdomen is curled upwards. Because of their generally soft colours and markings, this posture may help them to take on the appearance of a dead leaf, thereby avoiding predation.
Habitat:
This moth was spotted on a small towel amongst some gardening equipment used in our vegetable plot behind the house. When taking some pictures, I realized that the towel was not a suitable background. So I gently picked it up with one finger and in doing so, noticed that it was crawling away from its cocoon. It appears that the towel had been thrown in a corner and had not been touched for more than two weeks. So it would seem that the larva must have strayed onto the towel when it was used in the vegetable garden and survived being thrown into a corner just when it was ready to pupate.
Notes:
Thank you Francis Floe for suggesting Targalla palliatrix. Please bare with me if I am rather pedantic (it comes with old age and I will be 80 years old on my next birthday). The 2 websites you recommended, Papua Insects Foundation and Australian Butterfly House both show pictures which appear to be identical to my specimen. So far so good, but they both also show distribution info. which does not include Philippines. However, the Australian Butterfly House shows T. palliatrix (Guenee, 1852) and immediately under it, they mention one synonym; T. infida Walker, 1852. I had previously noticed this species being mentioned in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targalla. So I checked again and it is shown as distributed in Philippines. Thanks again Francis.
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