Family HEPIALIDAE
Aenetus splendens occurs in Queensland and New South Wales. We have seen it this moth in October and January.
Larval foodplants
The larvae of Aenetus splendens are borers in saplings of specific trees. They feed internally. The entrance to their tunnel is usually within a metre of the ground. They cover the entrance to the tunnel with silk and debris. When full grown they pupate in the tunnel. When eclosing they partly extrude the pupa prior to the adult emerging.
Foodplants are Callicoma serratifolia Black Wattle (CUNONIACEAE), Trema tomentosa Peach Poison Bush (CANNABACEAE), Syzygium floribundum Weeping Lilly Pilly, Syzygium smithii Lilly Pilly, Callistemon sp.(MYRTACEAE), Allocasuarina She Oak (CASUARINACEAE), Pandorea pandorana (BIGNONIACEAE), Rubus sp. Native Brambles,(ROSACEAE), Antarctic Beech Northofagus moorei (NORTHOFAGACEAE).
Many of the food-plants are indigenous to the areas of rainforest immediately surrounding our property. Reference ‘Monographs of Australian Lepidoptera’ Volume 12, Splendid Ghost Moths and Their Allies, CSIRO Publishing 2018 and https://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/hepi/splendens.html.
Below are photos taken where a larva was feeding on Antarctic Beech that we netted to catch the moth when it hatched. The small sapling survived the larva burrowing into its trunk.
