• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Australian Moths and other garden observations (1 Viewer)

Managed to get out again last night, sadly the clouds cleared by 1100pm so I packed up and was back home by nidnight.
Agathia lycaenaria (Geometridae, Geometrinae) - only my second record for Weipa, first being January this year
Alloeopage cinerea (Geometridae, Geometrinae) - a female. My first for Weipa and the first I have seen since 2018
Clania persimilis (Psychidae) - an occasional visitor to the sheet
Cotana serranotata (Eupterotidae, Eupterotinae) - females are so much easier to identify to species than the males! Only my second record for Weipa
Donuca orbigera (Erebidae, Erebinae) - such an attractive genus
Hierodula species probably Hierodula werneri - just waiting for confirmation as it is a slightly odd colour
 

Attachments

  • Agathia lycaenaria 09 07 2022.JPG
    Agathia lycaenaria 09 07 2022.JPG
    1 MB · Views: 7
  • Alloeopage cinerea 09 07 2022 (1).JPG
    Alloeopage cinerea 09 07 2022 (1).JPG
    2.9 MB · Views: 6
  • Clania persimilis 09 07 2022.JPG
    Clania persimilis 09 07 2022.JPG
    871.3 KB · Views: 6
  • Cotana serranotata 09 07 2022.JPG
    Cotana serranotata 09 07 2022.JPG
    1.8 MB · Views: 4
  • Donuca orbigera 09 07 2022.JPG
    Donuca orbigera 09 07 2022.JPG
    2.5 MB · Views: 5
  • IMG_1185-SharpenAI-Motion.JPG
    IMG_1185-SharpenAI-Motion.JPG
    791.5 KB · Views: 7
Caught this once before, August 2021, and I think that this is Ancistroneura sp. cf ANIC4 (Oecophoridae, Oecophorinae) but as is the case with so many Australian species there are no photos of live specimens just of a couple of old specimens in ANIC. Lovely moth with ridiculous antennae which it was waving around all over the place!
 

Attachments

  • Ancistroneura sp. cf ANIC4 09 07 2022 (1).JPG
    Ancistroneura sp. cf ANIC4 09 07 2022 (1).JPG
    578.4 KB · Views: 6
  • Ancistroneura sp. cf ANIC4 09 07 2022 (3).JPG
    Ancistroneura sp. cf ANIC4 09 07 2022 (3).JPG
    727.1 KB · Views: 6
As is so often the case trying to track down one species led to the identification of another as well. In this case two species of Addaea (Thyrididae). I caught what was clearly an Addaea or an allied genera last night but did not recognise so looked through the specimens on BOLD. Whilst doing that came across one that reminded me of something I had thought was a different genus from earlier in the month.
Addaea fragilis and Addaea polyphoralis both new species for me and for Weipa
 

Attachments

  • Addaea polyphoralis 09 07 2022.JPG
    Addaea polyphoralis 09 07 2022.JPG
    669 KB · Views: 1
  • Addaea fragilis 02 07 2022.JPG
    Addaea fragilis 02 07 2022.JPG
    401.7 KB · Views: 1
I catch this genus quite regularly here and most just go down as Piloprepes sp but this looks a reasonable match to Piloprepes gelidella (Oecophoridae, Oecophorinae) but would be a major range expansion if this is the case as the closest records I can find are from Brisbane which is 2500kms to my SSE. I suspect it may be something new but due to pressures of storage space I was notable to retain it...that issue has been solved this week and my new storage will be up and running by the weekend so I will hopefully catch one again this dry.
 

Attachments

  • Piloprepes gelidella 09 07 2022 (2).JPG
    Piloprepes gelidella 09 07 2022 (2).JPG
    539.2 KB · Views: 5
The garden trap has been very quiet of late and I have had no opportunities to head out to my local sites since early this month - that is all due to change as have a five day window end of next week and then at the end of August back over to Iron Range for three more nights trapping. The highlight this week has been this Donuca rubropicta (Erebidae, Erebinae). As far as I can tell this is the first record for the Cape and the first north of the Cairns region. I have been trying out my new "spare" camera the Olympus TG-6 the macro capabilities of it are astonishing and under the right conditions the auto stacking function will be amazing. These are all taken by the TG-6 and are completely unedited aside from some cropping for the full moth photo. The rest are straight off the camera
 

Attachments

  • P7210019.JPG
    P7210019.JPG
    682.8 KB · Views: 7
  • P7210017.JPG
    P7210017.JPG
    2.5 MB · Views: 4
  • P7210014.JPG
    P7210014.JPG
    452.3 KB · Views: 7
  • P7210012.JPG
    P7210012.JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 8
The TG-g is a very good camera but under certain, daylight conditions, it over exposes stuff alarmingly and even some subjects which have even slightly refelective wings, can prove a challenge!
 
I am definitely finding its limitations but as a back up camera it works well. I added the FD-1 diffuser which helps at night and will buy a monopod to help stabilise which will make the image stacking function really useful (I have a tremor from a previous TBI so even holding the TG-6 still can be quite a challenge at times). Next year I hoe to invest in another macro lens for the Canon just to pull things a bit closer
 
I have taken a long weekend off work as it is the New Moon and my wife is away so I can go trapping in the bush for a few nights, sadly the weather gods decided that they were less keen on that idea and having been calm for the last two weeks the wind has picked up and is now constant which combined with the choking smoke from load reduction burns meant the session was challenging to say the least! Here are some of the highlights but I am still working on the initial sort and rough edits so there will eventually be more!
Aiteta pratti (Nolidae, Chloephorinae) - this one is a female. This species is found widely in Papua but is not officially on the Australian list, I have recorded it regularly from Cairns northwards to Weipa.
Brachybelistis pentachroa (Oecophoridae, Xyloryctinae) - a new species for me
Donuca orbigera (Erebidae, Erebinae) - a regular visitor to the sheet. There are no records north of Cairns for this species other than my series from Weipa over the last 12 months or so
Neomusotima (Crambidae, Musotiminae) - one species of this genus is listed as being recorded in Australia, Neomusotima conspuricatalis, but I can find not records for it here. I have left it at species level as without the specimen it is impossible to determine exactly which species it is and despite my best efforts it elude capture
Omiodes diemenalis (Crambidae, Spilomelinae) - this is probably he darkest example of this common and widespread species that I have ever caught
Pingasa blanda (Geometridae, Geometrinae) - probably the commonest member of this genus here in Weipa and certainly the easiest to ID as I have never seen another species that rests in this position.
Pingasa chlora (Geometridae, Geometrinae) - the second most common member of this genus here.
 

Attachments

  • Stictoptera nr. cucullioides 29 07 2022 (3).JPG
    Stictoptera nr. cucullioides 29 07 2022 (3).JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 3
  • Pingasa chlora 29 07 2022.JPG
    Pingasa chlora 29 07 2022.JPG
    1.9 MB · Views: 5
  • Pingasa blanda 29 07 2022.JPG
    Pingasa blanda 29 07 2022.JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 5
  • Omiodes diemenalis 29 07 2022 (1).JPG
    Omiodes diemenalis 29 07 2022 (1).JPG
    553.8 KB · Views: 5
  • IMG_1602.JPG
    IMG_1602.JPG
    664.4 KB · Views: 2
  • Donuca orbigera 29 07 2022 (1).JPG
    Donuca orbigera 29 07 2022 (1).JPG
    1.6 MB · Views: 3
  • Brachybelistis pentachroa  29 07 2022 (3).JPG
    Brachybelistis pentachroa 29 07 2022 (3).JPG
    792.8 KB · Views: 3
  • Aiteta pratti 29 07 2022 (2).JPG
    Aiteta pratti 29 07 2022 (2).JPG
    1,021.3 KB · Views: 2
Plume moths are a family that I really struggle to ID, luckily one of the global experts in this family is based here in Aus and is always happy to ID photos for me. Here are three from my last session
Buckleria paludum - a new species for me, the only other record in Qld north of Cairns is from a friend who caught one in Iron Range last year
Exelastis puilio - a regular visitor here
Stenoptilodes taprobanes - a new species for me for the Cape and my first record since 2018
 

Attachments

  • Stenoptilodes taprobanes 07 08 2022.JPG
    Stenoptilodes taprobanes 07 08 2022.JPG
    480.6 KB · Views: 4
  • Exelastis pumilio 07 08 2022.JPG
    Exelastis pumilio 07 08 2022.JPG
    453.7 KB · Views: 4
  • Buckleria paludum 07 08 2022.JPG
    Buckleria paludum 07 08 2022.JPG
    587.8 KB · Views: 4
I am definitely finding its limitations but as a back up camera it works well. I added the FD-1 diffuser which helps at night and will buy a monopod to help stabilise which will make the image stacking function really useful (I have a tremor from a previous TBI so even holding the TG-6 still can be quite a challenge at times). Next year I hoe to invest in another macro lens for the Canon just to pull things a bit closer
Get a ring flash and disable the GPS to save battery time, unless you want it on of course.
 
Work and weather have conspired against me for the last couple of weeks and just when I had a window of opportunity with a waning moon bush fires get in the way. So call load reduction burns are a fact of life in a mining area and the fires themselves don't impact on my main sites as they are protected and on the whole the fires are laid in a manner that the winds don't blow the burn that way, the same cannot be said of the track into the site and so despite having some time I actually couldn't get to the site! I have instead been concentrating on trying to ID photos from previous session with mixed success. One that I have finally got to the bottom of is this Peperita molybdopasta (Noctuidae, Acontiinae). This has taken literally hours to track down not least because I was convinced that this was something in Eupethicinii. Turns out it is quite a regularly recorded moth around Brisbane and the NSW border but aside from two records on BOLD I could find no other published records for the Cape
 

Attachments

  • Peperita molybdopasta 21 02 2022 (2).JPG
    Peperita molybdopasta 21 02 2022 (2).JPG
    845.2 KB · Views: 3
As part of a thread on a global mothing group on FB several observers keep running totals for the year etc - I have tried to do this but I am so far behind in my data entry but as an indication of the diversity here up till 16th Feb my 2022 list is as follows 432 taxa in the garden and 567 within my local patch of Weipa. In addition I have put my records from Iron Range in May on my database as I needed to send a preliminary species list back to the licensing agency and my Qld list for 2022 stand at 757. Aside from the dates that I have not entered any data for I still have hundreds of photos to ID from the days I have entered.
 
One photo I have been working on is this quite distinctive looking Geometrinae that I caught in Kutini-Payamu earlier this year but I have had no luck with the resources that are available to me so I sent it to a friend who has a particular interest in Australian Geometrinae. He replied yesterday with this
""I can't help you with a name for that one, even to genus level. I have three spec's of what I think are the same species all caught at Iron Range in Feb 1985, but I haven't been able to get a name for them from ANIC. I agree the wingshape is reminiscent of Prasinocyma iosticta but the pattern is also not dissimilar to Comibaena inductaria. The 2008 Loebel photos of ANIC material also show 8 specimens of this species from Heathlands NP and Iron Range, all caught by Ted Edwards, but no name is assigned. If the order of Loebel's photos in his database reflect ANIC's arrangement, Ted had placed them into the ANIC just after Chlorocoma but I don't think that means Ted assumed that Chlorocoma was the appropriate genus."
I have now posted it to a couple of groups on FB to see if anyone can suggest an ID but I suspect that Geometrinae sp will be as far as I can ever get with this one
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0443.JPG
    IMG_0443.JPG
    515.9 KB · Views: 7
Back from another three night trip to Kutini-Payamu, this time trapping on private land that is directly adjacent to the NP. The weather was slightly less helpful on this occasion with at times nearly gale force winds. I managed to tuck myself away in locations that were semi sheltered and still managed to catch some good things. I am only part way through the first nights photos but here are some of the highlight
Axiocteta turneri (Erebidae, Erebinae) - my first record of this species since 2017. There are few records from the Cape
Chiasmia goldiei (Geometridae, Ennominae) - this is the first published photo of a live specimen as far as I can see. There are only five other records that I am aware of, three specimens on BOLD and an additional two specimens that a friend has. All are taken from the Iron and McIlwraith Ranges
Cissachria callischema (Crambidae, Spilomelinae) - Another species with no previously published photos of a live specimen. I can only find reference to three specimens taken in 1992and 1993 from Cape York
Corgatha semipardata (Erebidae, Boletobinae) - a widely distributed species in the Indo-Pacific region. There are only three published Australian records all from the Iron Range from 1989 to 1998.
Eumelia sanguinifusa (Geometridae, Oenochrominae) - a new species for me, can only find a handful of Australian records
IMG 2240 - A complete unknown, at this stage we are not certain what family it is in. It is holding itself in a manner similar to Phazaca (Uraniidae) but is the same size roughly as a Gonodontis (Ennominae) which would be massive for a Uraniid. A friend of mine is trawling through the National Collection for me tomorrow but if anyone here has a clue please do reply to this post...will also post it on the other thread just in case.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2240.JPG
    IMG_2240.JPG
    2.1 MB · Views: 5
  • Eumelea sanguinifusa 26 08 2022 (3).JPG
    Eumelea sanguinifusa 26 08 2022 (3).JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 5
  • Corgatha semipardata 26 08 2022 (2).JPG
    Corgatha semipardata 26 08 2022 (2).JPG
    988.8 KB · Views: 4
  • Cissachroa callischema 26 08 22 (2).JPG
    Cissachroa callischema 26 08 22 (2).JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 4
  • Chiasmia goldiei   26 08 22 (2).JPG
    Chiasmia goldiei 26 08 22 (2).JPG
    1.5 MB · Views: 4
  • Axiocteta turneri 26 08 2022 (1).JPG
    Axiocteta turneri 26 08 2022 (1).JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 5
A few more from the first night back in Kutini-Payamu
Capasa incensata (Geometridae, Ennominae) - these were quite common during my visit in May but this trip I only saw a single individual
Macaldenia palumba (Erebidae, Erebinae) - my first record of these since April 2018, also my first record for Cape York
Skeletonphyllon tempestua (Cossidae) - a new species for me and one that is restricted to the top of Cape York
Spilosoma erythrastis (Erebidae, Arctiinae) - I only saw a single individual in May but this trip I saw them each night.
Tamba meeki (Erebidae, Erebinae) - a new species for me
Zeuzera quieta (Cossidae) - the second Cossidae species of the trip. Another new species for me that is restricted to the top of Cape York
 

Attachments

  • Zeuzera quieta 26 08 2022  (2).JPG
    Zeuzera quieta 26 08 2022 (2).JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 1
  • Tamba meeki 26 08 2022 (1).JPG
    Tamba meeki 26 08 2022 (1).JPG
    961.9 KB · Views: 2
  • Spilosoma erythrastis 26 08 22 (2).JPG
    Spilosoma erythrastis 26 08 22 (2).JPG
    1.5 MB · Views: 2
  • Skeletonphyllon tempestua 26 08 2022.JPG
    Skeletonphyllon tempestua 26 08 2022.JPG
    583 KB · Views: 2
  • Macaldenia palumba 26 08 2022 (2).JPG
    Macaldenia palumba 26 08 2022 (2).JPG
    991.5 KB · Views: 2
  • Capasa incensata 26 08 2022.JPG
    Capasa incensata 26 08 2022.JPG
    2.1 MB · Views: 2
A couple of non moths from my recent trip
Ectocemus decemmaculatus - a spectacular weevil and Tamolanica atricoxis the "Hooded Horror"
 

Attachments

  • Ectocemus decemmaculatus 26 08 2022 (1).JPG
    Ectocemus decemmaculatus 26 08 2022 (1).JPG
    714.8 KB · Views: 6
  • IMG_2207.JPG
    IMG_2207.JPG
    3.3 MB · Views: 6
Another cracker from my recent trip. This is Gelasma selenosema (Geometridae, Geometrinae), identified for me by a friend. This is probably only the sixth record of this species and is the first live specimen photographed. Known only from the top of Cape York the five specimens in collections are the only records I can track down.
 

Attachments

  • Gelasma selenosema 27 08 2022.JPG
    Gelasma selenosema 27 08 2022.JPG
    1.9 MB · Views: 4
Another new species for me from my trip to Kutini-Payamu, Avirostrum pratti (Erebidae, Catocalinae). I can only find three other records for this species online, all from Iron Range area in 1992 and 2 in 1998. The photos of the three specimens on BOLD appear to be the only published photos of them that I can find.
 

Attachments

  • Avirostrum pratti 28 08 2022 (2).JPG
    Avirostrum pratti 28 08 2022 (2).JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 1
  • Avirostrum pratti 28 08 2022 (3).JPG
    Avirostrum pratti 28 08 2022 (3).JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 1
Celerena griseofusa (Geometridae, Desmobathrinae) has been a regular visitor in both of my trips to the Iron Ranges this year. In May there were several on each night, this last trip there were just singles all of which were slightly worn
 

Attachments

  • Celerena griseofusa  28 08 2022 (2).JPG
    Celerena griseofusa 28 08 2022 (2).JPG
    792.7 KB · Views: 0
  • Celerena griseofusa  28 08 2022 (3).JPG
    Celerena griseofusa 28 08 2022 (3).JPG
    2.2 MB · Views: 0
Another completely new species for me was this Ategumia adipalis (Crambidae, Spilomelinae) not the freshest of specimens but I can only find a handful of records for this species in Australia, although it is quite widespread in the Indo-Pacific
 

Attachments

  • Ategumia adipalis 28 08 2022.JPG
    Ategumia adipalis 28 08 2022.JPG
    800.9 KB · Views: 1

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top