February 2016 - Yorkeys Knob, Australia (1 Viewer)

Dom F said:

Eudocima salaminia (Catocalinae) - a new species of Eudocima for me; most of the photos I have seen do not show the green flush as well - in set specimens the green fades and is lost.

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Actually Dom
The green pigment in noctuids is fairly stable (if kept correctly) but in this species it is possibly slightly structural colour as well, as it changes depending on the angle of the light. However, in the geometrids, the pigment (geoverdin -discovered and named by a student at the NHM) is very unstable and can fade even in life!
Martin

honeym said:

Actually Dom
The green pigment in noctuids is fairly stable (if kept correctly) but in this species it is possibly slightly structural colour as well, as it changes depending on the angle of the light. However, in the geometrids, the pigment (geoverdin -discovered and named by a student at the NHM) is very unstable and can fade even in life!
Martin

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Thanks for this bit of info Martin - I had been led to believe that it was green moths in general that suffered.

As you would expect with the full moon and clear skies the trap was considerably less busy at the end of the month compared to a couple of weeks ago - there was still a fair amount buzzing around the light and with over 250 spp so far this month and considerably more than 3000 photos still to work through can have absolutely no complaints!
Four parts to todays update

Macroglossum dohertyi (Sphingidae) - my second dohertyi this month and only the third I have ever seen
Chrysochloroma megaloptera (Geometrinae) - having not seen one since early April last year this has become a frequent visito to the trap, it is clearly a wet Season specialist
Protuliocnemis partita (Geometrinae) - probably my favourite Geometrinae
Neochera dominia (Aganainae) -always a nice moth to catch, and one that I record infrequently
Paracrama latimargo (Chloephorinae) - this species was new to me a couple of months ago, this month have had at least two individuals appearing at the light

Part II

Aeolochroma quadrilinea (Geometrinae) - this has appeared frequently at the trap since May last year , although it took me months to ID it as I was taken in by the fact that Geometrinae are often called Emeralds and so are green....this one is very well marked
Anticarsia irrorata (Catocalinae) - my first of the year; this is a species I saw regularly late on in the Wet in 2015
Ericeia plaesoides (Catocalinae) - one of several similar species
Petelia medardaria (Ennominae) - this was a new species for me this week, though I think I have some photos of this from early last year that I had not ID'd so will have to check back through my unknown folders!
Spirama recessa (Catocalinae) - the first male of this species that I have caught this year

Part III

Careades huntei (Chloephorinae) - my first of the year for this species, it is never common at the trap so it is always good to see it
Dysgonia monogona (Catocalinae) - another new species for me this week, and as is often the case the night it turned up there were three at the
light
Lymnatra lunata (Lymnatridae) - a nice male, have seen several males this month but no females for quite some time.
Ophiusa coronata and Ophiusa discriminans (Catocalinae) - two of the four species that I have seen this month. It was very nice to see a reasonably fresh coronata as on the whole these moths are quite bedraggled when I catch them

Part IV - final update for the month

Achaea argilla (Catocalinae) - the whitish fringe and subtle markings on the forewings distinguish this from the far more common Achaea janata
Zeheba spectabilis (Ennominae) - a very attractive and distinctive visitor to the trap in small numbers
Nadagara xylotrema (Ennominae) - the commonest of the two Nadagara species that I see, both are very attractive moths.

Northern Dwarf Tree Frog - the rain we had a few days ago bought out this friendly frog who spent most of the night sitting either on me or the camera!