January 2016 - Australia (1 Viewer)

Dom F · Jan 4, 2016

Happy New Year fellow mothers - I hope that 2016 is a great year for you.
The New Year certainly started off promisingly with increasing activity at the trap as the effects of the rain that we have had start to show. It is the long school summer holidays here so I am falling behind in identifying my photos so these are purely the "obvious" highlights - there are a couple of very interesting micros that will probably take me several weeks to ID.

Dasychiroides spA BOLD (Lymantriidae) - I have caught this unnamed species several times this year.
Ophyx pseudoptera (Catocalinae) - this species is highly sexually dimorphic, this is a male. It is quite a large moth with a wingspan of atleast 6-7cm
Syntypistis chloropasta (Notodontinae) - a new species for the garden
Theretra turneri (Sphingidae) - a new species to me and one that seems to be either localised or generally scarce as contacts of mine who have been trapping in Queensland for 20+ years have never recorded it.
Urocoma niphobola (Lymantriidae) - this was new to me; on some websites this is listed as an Euproctis - it is certainly the nicest Euproctis that I have seen!

Dom F · Jan 4, 2016

continuing my update for the first few days of 2016

Cernia amyclaria (Oenochrominae) - this was another new species for me.
Periopta diversa (Agaristinae) - these are normally day flying moths but this turned up at my light at 2300!

Giant Water Scorpion - this is by far the largest water scorpion I have seen, it was over 3 inches long!
Ornate Burrow Frog
Australian Tiger

Dom F · Jan 6, 2016

A three part up date today as the last couple of nights have been quite interesting.

Acontia clerana Acontiinae - in the last six months I have identified six Acontia species, several from photos that I had incorrectly filed a Torts to be ID'd as and when I felt mad enough to try!
Comostola cedilla Geometrinae - without doubt the nicest of the Comostola that I catch, I have only seen this on a couple of occasions.
Ipanica cornigera Agaristinae - the first of these that I have seen since February 2015. They seem to have a short flight period, although within that they can be quite common
Moerarchis australasiella Tineidae - when I saw this I initially thought that it was an odd Atteva (Yponomeutidae) but on closer inspection of the photos its woolly head gave it away as a Tineidae
Pseudozarba orthopetes Acontiinae - prior to this week I had only seen this moth once in the Northern Territory last year, now it is one of the commonest moths at the trap with 30-40 appearing most nights

Dom F · Jan 6, 2016

Part 2.

Antictenia punctunculus Oenochrominae - a highly variable moth that I have only seen once before in January last year when I was staying out in the bush 5 hours SW of Cairns
Oxycophina theorina Thyrididae - a very attractive moth that I have caught on just a handful of occassions last year.
Oxymacaria odontias Ennominae - the last three photos are all of this species (although the final pale individual I am not completely confident about). This is another very common moth at the moment with 15+ at the light each night

Dom F · Jan 6, 2016

and the final part for today

Digama marmorea Aganaidae - not a typical Aganaidae to my eyes and one that it took me ages to ID the first time I saw it as I was looking in completely the wrong families!
Hyles livornicoides Sphingidae - probably the commonest Sphingid that I catch both in terms of number of nights seen and number of individuals. I had three last night but peaked at 40+ in 2015
Theretra margarita Sphingidae - a beautiful species that i have caught a couple of times, makes a pleasant change from having to try and sort out the latreillii / tryoni complex...
Burying Mantis - one of the more distinctive mantids that I see, its vaguely pinkish eyes give it away. Unusually for me there were two of these hanging around the light.
Rosenbergia megalocephala - without doubt one of the most impressive beetles that i have ever seen, it is apparently a local and quite rare species

Dom F · Jan 7, 2016

Well last night was certainly an impressive session, although overall moth diversity was quite poor (probably only 30 species) it was exceedingly memorable for the number and variety of Sphingids that came to the light. I had at least twenty individuals of seven species.

Agriius convolvuli - the "normal" form that I catch
Agrius convolvuli - the other form that i catch occasionally, unfortunately it was in an awkward position and I did not manage to get a decent photo but you can just about make out the dark "square" shape in the middle of the forewing. It was far more obvious in real life
Agrius convolvuli - a photo from last year showing the dark square on the forewing more clearly
Hyles livornicoides - there were at least ten of these buzzing around
Macroglossum micacea - a slightly battered individual but I am reasonably confident of its ID EDIT SEE POST 8 BELOW

Dom F · Jan 7, 2016

Second part of last nights Sphingid haul...

Hippotion boerhaviae - quite a small hawkmoth, ID in part based in the broad stripe on the thorax
Hippotion rosetta - a larger version of boerhaviae, ID based in part on size and on the rapidly tapering stripe on the thorax
Theretra margarita - there were at least four of these around the trap
Theretra oldenlandiae - seperated from the similar T.margarita by the double strip on the abdomen

Dom F · Jan 7, 2016

Edit to post 6.
I have now had the opportunity to have a quick look at the hindwing of the Macroglossum I posted earlier and I am now completely confident that my initial ID was wrong! Given the yellow in the hindwing I suspect that this is infact Macroglossum alcedo

Dom F · Jan 8, 2016

Dom F said:
Edit to post 6.
I have now had the opportunity to have a quick look at the hindwing of the Macroglossum I posted earlier and I am now completely confident that my initial ID was wrong! Given the yellow in the hindwing I suspect that this is infact Macroglossum alcedo

And just to show that I know absolutely nothing I have had the ID of this confirmed as Macroglossum vacillans by Max Moulds who is currently writing the definitive book on Australian Sphingids.
He also confirmed that both the Hippotion in Post 7 are in fact rosetta

Dom F · Jan 12, 2016

I have come to the conclusion that my garden is not a classic Wet Tropics garden - number of moths coming to the trap is consistently quite low (with the occasional great night) but within that low number there are some very interesting species. I have not managed to have the time to ID most of what I have caught over the last few days so here are just a few f the obvious highlights

Clostera rubida (Notodontidae) - this is in the same group as the Chocolate-tips back in the UK. I have caught (and I think posted here) a much smaller and as yet un identified species before but this was the first time that I have caught rubida the only species from this genus currently described in Australia
Glyphodes microta (Spilomelinae) - only the second time I have caught this diminutive species
Gonodontis orthotoma (Ennominae) - a new genus for me and on that I have been hoping to catch
Loxioda hampsonii (Catocalinae) - I catch this quite regularly but they are normally a much sandier colour, this is by far the darkest that I have seen

Dom F · Jan 12, 2016

Update Part II

Oreta jaspidae (Drepaninae)- There are not too many of the Hook-tips here in Australia and this is the only species that I have caught so far. I catch it very infrequently, in fact this is probably only the third that I have seen
Parotis species (Pyraustinae) - this group of very attractive Crambidae are very tricky, if not impossible to separate without dissection. This one is closest to marginata from what I can see
Synthereta janetta (Saturnidae) - everybody loves big colourful moths....

Stick Insect - two as yet unidentified species. Both were quite large with the green individual being at least 14 inches long and the brown individual 9-10 inches.

EDIT The large green species is the Goliath Stick insect - Australasia second largest species and the brown species is Crown Stick Insect

Dom F · Jan 16, 2016

A bigger update today with four parts...I have an ever increasing backlog from January to ID so again these are just the obvious highlights rather than the possibly more interesting but much trickier to ID species. I have come to the conclusion with my new garden that the number of moths coming to the trap is far lower than my previous garden (both in terms of diversity and number of individuals) but there are some very interesting things in amongst them. For example the last few nights I have probably had fewer than 40 individuals per night - which as we are in the middle of the Wet is rather worrying (we have had no rain since before Christmas which doesn't help).

Pingasa blanda (Geometrinae) - There are at least three species of "Emerald" that sit with their wings like this.
Mixocera latilineata (Geometrinae) - I don't see this small species very often and the white lines on this seem particularly narrow so I am not 1005 confident of this ID as I am still checking on BOLD and other sites how varied this species can be
Anisozyga speciosa (Geometrinae) - another very attractive species that is reasonably regular in the garden
Macroglossum hirundo (Sphingidae) - I really struggle with the Macroglossum species and hirundo in particular can be a pain as it is extremely variable - I have seen and had ID confirmed, individuals with no white bar across the forewing through to individuals like this with a full white bar and everything in between!
Anthela spp (Anthelidae) - this group is only found in Australia and New Guinae. They are all extremely variable moths so my ID is very tentative but I think the top individual is Anthela astata and the bottom is Anthela varia

Dom F · Jan 16, 2016

Part II

Anomis flava (Erebidae) - a relatively common visitor to the garden although can be confused with the similar Anomis lyona
Autiba pectorora (Acontinae) - probably the moth I record most in terms of number of nights it is present, although rarely is it around in any numbers.
Bocula odontosema (Erebidae) - an infrequent and highly variable visitor to the garden, have never seen such a well marked individual before but it does match known variations on BOLD.
Dysgonia senex (Erebidae) - probably the most frequently recorded member of the Dysgonia / Bastilla complex
Labdia spANIC1 (Cosmopterginae) - I know I have posted pictures of this before but it is without doubt my favourite Cosmop. Hopefully someday someone will describe and name it properly!

Dom F · Jan 16, 2016

Part III

Callopistria maillardi (Erebidae) - the commonest of the Callopistria species that I record in the garden. This is the first I maillardi I have seen for a few months
Cyclodes spectans (Erebidae) - one of my favourite moths and one that prior to moving into my current house I had only seen a couple of very battered individuals. In this garden it is a regular feature and one I always enjoy seeing
Nagia linteola (Erebidae) - an infrequent visitor to the garden
Utethesia spp (Arctiinae) - very similar to the Crimson-speckled Footman that is rare in the UK, we get two species here that are separable only via dissection or very close examination of the males antennae - being a lazy mother I am afraid that I rarely record them but on reflection I suspect that this group is one of the most commonly found at light often in good numbers
Plutella xylostella (Plutellidae) - a species that most UK based mothers will be familiar with, unfortunately over here it is not a naturally occurring species having been introduced by accident

Dom F · Jan 16, 2016

Part IV
I realise that this is in the Moths and Butterfly forum but I hope it is OK to post the occasional photo of some other night time visitors to the MV, as it certainly brings out some other weird and wonderful species.
However just occasionally the by catch can become over bearing....
Flea Beetle spp - these are very small probably no more than 2mm in length and on their own are innocuous....
Flea Beetles.........unfortunately they don't appear on their own, these buggers get in places where no beetle should ever go and make photography very unpleasant!
Supalacsa subtrahens Australian Common Owl0Fly - a fair few years ago I did my dissertation on Euroleon nostras the sole Antlion that occurs in the UK and ever since then I have been fascinated by Ant-Lions and Owl-Flies. I have dozens of specimens / photographs waiting to be ID'd but this species with the long club like antennae with obvious yellow on the underside of the club is reasonably distinctive.
Taurella forresti Hibiscus Cicada - this is a small species probably no more than 15mm body length
Psychidae spp this caterpillar and its mobile home was wandering across the wall one night! I have at least five different Psychids hanging around the house at the moment, virtually impossible to ID to species

Dom F · Jan 24, 2016

Three parts today - still waiting for rain but there is a steady trickle of nice species.

Anomis lyona Erebidae - in Part II on sat 16th I think it was I posted a picture of Anomis flava, here is its confusion species!
Asota heliconia Aganainae - always nice to see this attractive moth.
Grammodes justa Erebidae - the first Grammodes I have had for a while
Hypena gypsopila Hypeninae - new to both me and the garden
Unknown Erebidae - I have only caught this moth twice, once in July 2015 and again a few days ago. The palps make me confident that it is an Erebidae but as yet I have no idea even as to genus let alone species! This one has been retained to allow it to be ID'd at some stage!

Dom F · Jan 24, 2016

Part II - micros here in Aus really aren't that "micro" in fact some are positively massive...although there are plenty of absolutely minute species that I can barely see....

Cotahena hicana Pyraustinae - a new species for me, and having seen one it is now turning up regularly.
Diplopseutis spANIC1 Pyraustinae - another of these known unknowns that I catch semi regularly
Erechthias simulans Tineidae - one of my favourite Tineids, and quite large with a body length of approx 8-10mm
Pygospila tyres Crambidae - a large micro with a wingspan of at least 4cm
Stegommata spp Lyonetiinae - an exceedingly small moth with a body length of less than 2mm. I am not totally confident as to its genus!

Dom F · Jan 24, 2016

Part III - and final up date for today

Pataeta carbo Euteliinae - there is apparently a second all dark Pataeta but as yet have not found any details and having posted this to an Indo-Pacific moth group we have come to the conclusion that at the moment carbo is th best bet!
Pingasa blanda Geometrinae - just love these Geos that hold their wings in odd positions!
Syneora lithina Ennominae - very strikingly marked moth, this individual is notably darker than the lithina I have seen before

Papuan Frogmouth - a regular visitor to the garden but I struggle to get any decent photos of it when it appears

Brumfield5026 · Jan 26, 2016

Very cool never seen so many

Dom F · Jan 27, 2016

Well we have certainly had some rain this week - since Monday (am writing this Thursday morning local time) we have had over 10 inches of rain , including 3+ inches in under an hour!. The mothing has been varied as you would expect, in the severe rain storms nothing was flying, and my garden was under water so i turned the trap off very early, but in-between the storms the trap has been excellent. There are four parts to this update...

Comostola spp (Geometrinae) - There haven't been too many Geometrinae flying this week but it was great to see this duo at the trap together, on the left is Comostola pyrrhogona, a species I see very rarely, and on the right is an as yet undescribed but very similar species, I see this species far more frequently and talking to friends of mine it is clearly widespread as he has caught it 1500km down the coast!
Homodes (Catocalinae) - Homodes crocea on the left, I record this most frequently of the three species that occur here, and Homodes iomolybda on the right.
Hyblaea nr synaema (Hyblaeidae) - I have only seen Hylbaea once in February 2015 when I caught a single synaema, this week I had a minimum of five in one night (see below as well). I have retain two of these as seperating this group is very tricky and the underwing is a key component in species ID - I have managed a brief look at the underwing on these and they are a good match for synaema.
Hyblaea puera complex (Hyblaeidae) - there were two of these at the trap, from what I have been able to read it looks like puera is a complex of several species that are probably only separable by dissectiom.
Ophiusa hituense (Catocalinae) - my first for the season

January 2016 - Australia (1 Viewer)

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