''Comocrus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

moth genus in the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

erected by Karl Jordan in 1896. Its only species, ''Comocrus behri'', the mistletoe moth or mistletoe day moth, was first described by

George French Angas George French Angas (25 April 1822 – 4 October 1886), also known as G.F.A., was an English explorer, naturalist, painter and poet who emigrated to Australia. His paintings are held in a number of important Australian public art collections. ...

in 1847. It is widely distributed in southern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and adjacent to

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

, occurring as far north as

Derby, Western Australia Derby ( ) is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns i ...

, and Clermont and

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

in Queensland. It may be seen during daylight hours hovering around

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

species such as ''

Amyema miquelii ''Amyema miquelii'', also known as box mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae, found attached to several species of Australian eucalypt and occasionally on some species of Acacia. ...

'', '' Amyema melaleucae'' and '' Amyema cambadgei'' growing on ''

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...

'' and ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'' trees. The adult moths feed on ''Eucalyptus'' flower nectar, have a wingspan of some 58 millimetres and are basically black with white bands running through the wings. Individuals ready to mate exhibit ' hill-topping' behaviour, flying to high points in the landscape and there encountering mates.

Synonyms

*''Agarista casuarinae'' Scott, 1864 *''Agarista flexuosa'' Walker, 1865 *''Agarista contorta'' Walker, 1865 *''Agarista cortortus'' Jordan, 1896 *''Agarista casuarina'' Jordan, 1912 *''Agarista cortutus'' Nye, 1975''Comocrus behri'': Mistletoe Moth , Atlas of Living Australia
/ref>

References

External links

*
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences - Australian Moths OnlineFlickr Hive Mind GalleryDistribution map
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5155171 Moths described in 1896 Agaristinae