July 2016 Moths - Mossman, FNQ, Australia (1 Viewer)

Dom F · Jul 8, 2016

July is traditionally one of the quietest months here being mid Dry / mid Winter (along with August) but so far the trap has retained its interest with 140+ species in the first week (500+ photos still to work through).

Sphingidae Part I
Another great start to the month with 12 species so far..

Acosmeryx anceus - turning up most nights with a peak of two
Ambulyx dohertyi - five caught so far this month, four males and my first female; peak of three on one night
Daphnis moorei - a single rather battered individual at the start of the month
Daphnis protrudens - a single very fresh individual caught
Gnathothlibus eras - two males caught on the same night

Dom F · Jul 8, 2016

Sphingidae Part II

Psilogramma is a very tricky genus, so far I have caught seven individuals of I think three species - as with last month all my specimens are being retained for Max who is writing the definitive guide to Australian Sphingidae

Psilogramma exigua - this individual shows some characteristics of exigua to my eyes
Psilogramma menephron
Psilogramma papuensis

Theretra silhetensis - the commonest small Theretra at the moment with up to three caught a night
Theretra oldenlandiae - one caught so far this month and the first that I have seen for several weeks

Dom F · Jul 8, 2016

Geometrinae has been very well represented so far this month with 13 species so far this month (and 33 species since moving here).

Chrysochloroma megaloptera - recorded once, my first record for a couple of months
Metallochlora lineata - recorded once so far this month, and three times in June; this has always been a scarce species and I only caught it once in Yorkeys
Prasinocyma albicosta - only recorded once so far
Prasinocyma floresaria - seen twice so far this month.
Prasinocyma iosticta - my second record of this species having previously recorded it in March 2016 in Yorkeys

Dom F · Jul 8, 2016

Calliteara farenoides (Erebidae; Lymantriinae) - male caught on two dates so far.
Cascera bella (Notodontidae; Notodontinae) - seen almost daily at the moment, a species that I have not caught else where in Australia.The green colouration fades as it ages.
Neostauropus viridissimus (Notodontidae; Notodontinae) - restricted to Far North Queensland this was a new species for me this week
Syntypistis chloropasta (Notodontidae; Cerurinae) - I see this species quite regularly but this was an excteptionally well marked individual, a species that is predominantly restricted to Far North Queensland

Dom F · Jul 8, 2016

More to come later but am off out with the children......

Dom F · Jul 9, 2016

The diversity of Crambidae never ceases to amaze me- particularly coming from the UK where from memory the majority of species were quite small and not particularly colourful. Here that is not the case with some very large and very brightly marked species.

Agrotera namorokalis (Spilomelinae) - second record of this species, both from this garden
Didymostoma aurotinctalis (Spilomelinae) - a species that fades / looses its scales very quickly making the wings appear translucent
Glyphodes pulverulentalis (Spilomelinae) - this is the 15th member of this genus that I have caught.
Pachynoa xanthochyta (Spilomelinae) - an occasional visitor to the trap, this one almost escaped un-noticed as I did not find it until nearly midday when tidying up the moth sheet
Parotis marginata group (L) and suralis (R) (Spilomelinae) - I catch Parotis regularly but the majority of them require dissection to identify down to species level, suralis is one of the exceptions and is a distinctive member of the genus

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Amerila nigropunctata (Erebidae; Arctiinae) - only my second individual of this species
Ophiusa disciminans (Erebidae; Erebinae) - my first record of this species in the new garden.
Pantydia metaspila (Erebidae; Catocalinae) - the Pantydia are a highly variable and confusing genus, looking at on line resources metaspila seems to be the only species that shows these black marks quite so well defined
Pindara serratilinea (Erebidae; Catocalinae) - not an uncommon moth in Yorkeys, this is the first that I have caught in the new garden.
Utetheisa aegrotum (Erebidae; Arctiinae) - in Yorkeys this was quite an infrequent visitor to the trap, here it seems to be appearing at least once a week. It is a highly variable moth, usually with more obvious white markings on the forewings

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Bulonga distans (Geometridae, Ennominae) - an infrequent visitor to the light and one of my favourite Ennominae species, whilst not colourful it is to my eyes exceedingly elegant.
Canaea hyalospila (Thyrididae; Striglininae) - only the second individual of this species that I have seen
Donuca castalia (Erebidae; Catocalinae) - the first member of this genus that I have caught in the new house, another highly variable species
Myrioblephara macariata (Geometridae, Ennominae) - I have caught this species several times in the past and had previously thought it to be an Ectropis spp based on images on two of the main Australian Moth websites but when I looked further on BOLD I believe those specimens have been mislabeled and this is the correct ID
Ruttellerona spp (Geometridae, Ennominae) - there are few decent photos of this genus available and those that are all seem highly variable so I have retained this and it will be sent to ANIC for identification in my next batch of specimens

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Hyposidra talaca (Geometridae; Ennominae) - this was an infrequent visitor to the trap in Yorkeys but in my new garden it is appearing almost nightly
Oreta jaspidae and Tridrepana lunulata (Drepanidae) - these two species of Hook-tips were both very in frequent visitors in Yorkeys with no more than 1-2 records a year, here they are appearing most nights sometimes up to four of each species
Ozola hollowayi (Geometridae; Desmobathrinae) - this apparently uncommon species is becoming a regular feature in the trap appearing on a couple of nights each week at the moment

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Antithmerastis acrobela (Notodontidae; Pygaerinae) - another infrequent visitor in Yorkeys but occurring here more frequently, with singles appearing at least once a week
Ortholomia moluccana(Notodontidae; Notodontinae) - a new species for me
Britha biguttata (Erebidae; Hypeninae) - a new species of Hypeninae for me
Dichromia quinqualis (Erebidae; Hypeninae) - only the second individual of this species that I have seen, and unfortunately both have been battered specimens!
Hypena labatali (Erebidae; Hypeninae) - another new species of Hypena for me this week

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Athetis maculatra (Noctuidae; Noctuinae) - the most frequently encountered member of this genus
Callopistria maillardi (Noctuidae; Eriopinae) - a widespread moth in the Indo-Pacific region
Chalciope alcyona (Erebidae; Catocalinae) - another species that was infrequent in Yorkeys but seems to be a more regular feature here
Condica dolorosa (Noctuidae; Condicinae) - a new species for me
Eudocima phalonia (Erebidae; Calpinae) - Eudocia were scarce in Yorkeys but I have recorded three species so far in the new garden

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Acantholipes trajecta (Erebidae; Erebinae) - only the second individual of this species that I have caught
Acatapaustus mesoleuca (Nolidae; Nolinae) - aspecies restricted to Far North Queensland, a not infrequent visitor to the trap
Bracca rotundata (Geometridae, Ennominae) - a beautiful and luckily not uncommon visitor to the trap in small numbers
Eublemma inconspicua (Erebidae; Eublemminae) - the small members of the genus are very variable and confusing, and as such I have many photos that I have not yet worked through properly. I think that the identification is correct for this one
Euproctis lucifuga (L) and lutea (R) (Erebidae; Lymantriinae) - there are many species of this genus that occur here and several of them are predominantly plain in colour, as a rule I tend to leave them as Euproctis spp but these two are reasonably obvious

Dom F · Jul 11, 2016

Hemonia micrommata (Erebidae; Arctiinae) - not a common species at the trap, I have only caught this on a handful of occasions in Yorkeys
Leucania loreyi (Noctuidae; Noctuinae) - a new species for me this week

Litoria rubella - Red or Desert Tree Frog - have always wondered about the name "Desert" Tree Frog as in many deserts there are few trees and even less water! This species of native frog is the commonest species around the house and garden

Sipalinas gigas granulatus - at 3cm+ a large species of weevil!

Dom F · Jul 26, 2016

On my first post in this thread I said that July was traditionally quiet as it is mid winter and the Dry season...well that statement can go right out the window!! Whilst individual numbers are not high (with a few notable exceptions) diversity has been phenomenal with the month total currently standing at 271 with several nighta left and hundreds of photos to work through.
One real surprise has been the appearance of the massive Saturniidae Coscinocera hercules - with three individuals (two males and a female) coming to the light so far this month. They are traditionally a Wet season visito so this really shows how upside down the seasons are at the moment. With a wing span of 27cm+ and a wing surface area of 300 square cm they are Australia's largest moth spp.
The males are the ones with the long "tails"

July 2016 Moths - Mossman, FNQ, Australia (1 Viewer)

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