Hypena simplicalis (Walker, 1859)
 HYPENINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Hypena simplicalis
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland,
listed as Hypena obacerralis)

The adult moth has brown forewings, each with a line from the middle of the hind-margin to 3/4 the way along the costa separating a darker basal half from a paler marginal half, which contains a diffuse dark submarginal band. The hindwings are plain brown. The wingspan is about 2 cms.


Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
listed as Hypena masurialis)

The species has been found in

  • Congo,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    There appears to be controversy over the names

  • Hypena lividalis Hübner, 1796 (type specimen from Italy),
  • Hypena obliqualis Kollar 1844 (type specimen from India),
  • Hypena simplicalis Zeller 1852 (type specimen from Natal),
  • Hypena masurialis Guenée 1854 (type specimen from India),
  • Hypena obacerralis Walker 1859 (type specimens from Congo and Sri Lanka),
  • Hypena caerulealis Walker 1866 (type specimen from Australia), and
  • Hypena invenustalis Swinhoe, 1890 (type specimen from Myanmar).

    It is unclear how many distinct species there are between these seven names, and which are synonyms of which.

    Further reading :

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 164.

    Francis Walker,
    Deltoids,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 16 (1859), pp. 51, 53-54. No. 58.

    Philipp Christoph Zeller,
    Lepidoptera Microptera, quae J. A. Wahlberg in Caffrorum terra collegit,
    Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Nye Handlingar,
    Series 3, Tome 40 (1852), p. 11.

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    (written 25 May 2020, updated 26 May 2026)