Spring Moths

It is spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The days are getting longer and the nighttime temperatures are higher than they have been. But it is dry in the north. Kuranda rainfall during August was 55 mm and for all of September only 4.00 mm.

Nevertheless, it does not seem to affect moth activity. Warmer nights have yielded a great variety of species that were not present just a couple of weeks ago. Here is a very small sample.

Thanks to Ted Edwards, Ian McMillan and Buck Richardson and Donald Hobern for aid with the identifications. Any errors are those of the ageing yours truly.

For an idea of scale, the squares of the light sheets measure approximately 1 mm across.

Drepanidae; Hypsidia erythropalis

 Xylorictidae; Cryptophasa flavolineata

 Erebidae; Ctenuchinae; Ceryx guttulosa 

 Crambidae; Glyphodes margaritaria

Crambidae; Pyraustinae Omiodes chrysampyx

 Saturniidae; Saturniinae; Coscinocera hercules- Male The Hercules Moth

  Saturniidae; Saturniinae; Coscinocera hercules- Male The Hercules Moth

 Erebidae; Lithosiinae; Termessa ANIC sp. 2

 Erebidae; Lithosiinae; Asura polyspila

Erebidae; Lithosiinae; Genus ?

  Crambidae; Pyraustinae; Proedema  inscisalis

Notodontinae; Syntympistis chloropa

Oecophoridae; Oecophorinae Garrha sp. ANIC 13

Oecophoridae; Oecophorinae Lophopepla triselena

Saturniidae; Saturniinae Opodiphthera fervida

 Pyralidae; Phycitinae genus ?

 Pyralidae; Endotrichinae Endotricha sp

 Crambidae; Pyraustinae Palpita unionalis

 Xylorictidae; Genus ?

 Xylorictidae Xyloricta sp

Cosmopterygidae; Trachydora sp

Erebidae; Hypeninae Meyrickiella torquesaria 

 Oecophoridae; Stathmopodinae Zatrichodes sp

 Crambidae; Pyraustinae Pleurotypa symphonodes

 Adelidae; Nemophora panaeola

  Adelidae; Nemophora panaeola

 Crambidae; Acentropinae Megarosticha sp

 Geometridae; Geometrinae Agathia distributa 

  Geometridae; Geometrinae Gelasma orthodesma

 Geometridae; Geometrinae Metallochlora venusta

 Crambidae; Crambinae Genus?

 Batrachedridae Batrachedra sp

 Geometridae; Ennominae Milionia queenslandica

 Gelechiidae undescribed genus

 Aganaidae; Agape chloropa

 Erebidae; Arctiinae; Amerila crokeri

 Plutellidae; Plutella ?xylostella-The Cabbage Moth

This moth is a garden pest of many vegetables of the cabbage family. As far as I know, this is the first record from my home in the rainforest. Many people attempt to grow veggies and this must be the source of this species which may be introduced in Australia. There is some confusion as to the identity of the species and, therefore, the precise application of the species' name.

Geometridae; Oenochrominae Oenochroma quadrigramma