Species Aedia leucomelas (Linnaeus, 1758)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Phalaena leucomelas Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10, 824 pp. [518].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) LS, Europe.
• Catephia ramburii Boisduval, J.B.A.D.de 1829. Europaeorum Lepidopterorum Index Methodicus. Paris : De Plassan 103 pp. [Errata et Addenda, p. 7].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, 'Monspel', [France].
• Noctua adepta Geyer, C. 1832. Noctuae. pls 163-169 in Hübner, J. (ed.). Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge. [Augsburg] : [Hübner] 455 pp. [Date published Apr 1828–Jul 1832] [pl. 168].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, Southern France.
• Anophia acronyctoides Guenée, A. 1852. Noctuélites III. In, Boisduval, J.-A. & Guenée, A. (eds). Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Général des Lépidoptères. Paris : Librarie Encyclopédique de Roret Vol. 7 442 pp., 24 pls. [47].

  Type data:

   Holotype OUM ♂, Australia [as 'Van Diemen's Land'].
• Anophia limitaris Walker, F. 1864 [1863]. Catalogue of the Lepidopterous Insects collected at Sarawak, in Borneo, by Mr. A.R. Wallace, with descriptions of new species (continued). The Journal of the Linnean Society of London 7: 49-84, 160-198 [Date published 1864] [171].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) OUM, Sarawak, [Malaysia].
• Anophia thomae Prout, A.E. 1927. A list of Noctuidae with descriptions of new forms collected in the island of Sao Thomé, with descriptions of some new species collected by T.A. Barnes. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 75: 201-232 [223].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH ♀ ♂, São Tomé, [São Tomé and Príncipe].
• Anophia albodiscalis Roepke, W. 1932. Résultats scientifiques du voyage aux Indes Orientales Neerlandaises de LL. AA. RR. le Prince et la Princesse Léopold de Belgique. Mémoires du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique Hors Série 4(10): 85-99, 2 pls [92].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) RMNH ♀ ♂, Tonsea Lama, [Sulawesi, Indonesia].
• Aedia diluta Roepke, W. 1941. On some new or little known Indo-Malayan noctuids (Lepidoptera: Heterocera, family Agrotidae). Zoologische Mededelingen (Leiden) 23: 13-30 [22].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAU ♀, Djunggo-Ardjuno, E.-Java, [Indonesia].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Poole, R.W. 1989. Noctuidae. Parts 1–3, Lepidopterorum Catalogus 118 (New Series). Parts 1–3, Lepidopterorum Catalogus 118 (New Series). E.J. Brill & Flora & Fauna Publications : Leiden & Gainsville. xii +1314 pp. [34]
• Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds) 1996. Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [326]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Larvae have been recorded as feeding on Argyreia involucrata, Convolvulus sp., Ipomoea spp., Merremia dissecta, (Convolvulaceae), Chondrilla sp. (Asteraceae), Limonia elephantum (Rutaceae), Solanum melongena and Lycopersicon sp. (Solanaceae).

General References

Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds) 1996. Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [378: Note #716] (Aedia leucomelas (Linnaeus, 1758). A number of authors have suggested that this widespread (Europe to the Pacific islands) species might contain a complex of species. Holloway (1979) discusses this and concludes that there is probably only one species. Of the synonyms of A. leucomelas (Linnaeus) only A. acronyctoides (Guenée, 1852) was described from Australia. There is no doubt that A. acronyctoides (Guenée) is very close to A. leucomelas (Linnaeus) and could be considered a synonym. However, in Australia there are several other species which are apparently undescribed and are usually confused with A. acronyctoides (Guenée). It may be that A. leucomelas (Linnaeus) does occur over a very wide range but, in Australia at least, it does seem to be part of a complex of species)

History of changes