Amata humeralis (Butler, 1876)
 (previously known as Hydrusa humeralis)
SYNTOMIINI,   CTENUCHINI,   ARCTIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Amata humeralis female
female
(Photo: courtesy of Brock and Vanessa Pain, Dampier, Western Australia)

The adult moth of this species is black with translucent yellow spots on the wings and has a black and yellow banded abdomen. The thorax is black with yellow sides. The head is yellow. The male moths have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms. The female moths have a fatter abdomen, but a smaller wingspan of about 2 cms. The hindwings are only about half the span of the forewings, and each has a large single irregular translucent area.

Amata humeralis male
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/CNC/CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

Specimens have been found in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Amata humeralis female
    female, showing wing undersides
    (Photo: courtesy of Brock and Vanessa Pain, Dampier, Western Australia)

    Further reading

    Arthur G. Butler,
    Notes on the Lepidoptera of the family Zygaenidae, with descriptions of new genera and species,
    Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology,
    Volume 12 (1876), p. 352, No. 2.

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    (updated 15 June 2011, updated 15 November 2025)