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Wednesday 31 July 2019

Agriophara confertella 

Agriophara confertella STENOMATINAE DEPRESSARIIDAE  

The larvae feed on various Eucalyptus species, living between leaves joined with silk. First-instar larvae are white with red intersegmental rings. Older larvae become pale green, with brown lines along the sides. It reaches a length of 25 mm when full grown.



Family:- DEPRESSARIIDAE
Sub Family:- STENOMATINAE
Genus:- Agriophara
Species:- confertella










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 Nacoleia SP maybe SPILOMELINAE CRAMBIDAE 

I have spent rather a lot of time trying to identify this moth. I am fairly certain down to sub family and moderately sure that it will be one of the Nacoleia genus, but I have not been able to get any photos close enough to give it a name.
The lump on the antennae appears to allow the moth to move the ends separately to the base of the antennae.
The shape of the leading edge of the forewing is also fairly unusual.




 Family:- CRAMBIDAE
Sub Family:- SPILOMELINAE
Genus:- Nacoleia (Possibly)
Species:- ?

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Wednesday 24 July 2019

Luxiaria ochrophara


Luxiaria ochrophara ENNOMINAE GEOMETRIDAE 

No information on this moths biology.
There are a couple of mentions of different wing spans, one 20mm another 30mm.
I think this one was a bit bigger than that, but I took the photo some time ago and failed to note the size.



Family:- GEOMETRIDAE
Sub Family:- ENNOMINAE
Genus:- Luxiaria
Species:- ochrophara

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Nacoleia mesochlora SPILOMELINAE CRAMBIDAE

This is a tiny moth. The surface it is on is a fairly smooth painted surface!
Wing span varies but is said to be up to 15mm.




Family:- CRAMBIDAE
Sub Family:- SPILOMELINAE
Genus:- Nacoleia
Species:- mesochlora









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Wednesday 17 July 2019

 Cardamyla didymalis

Cardamyla didymalis PYRALINAE PYRALIDAE 

Wingspan about 35mm.

We also get Cardamyla carinentalis,  see my blog, Wednesday, 13 January 2016





Family:- PYRALIDAE
Sub Family:- PYRALINAE
Genus:- Cardamyla
Species:- didymalis 

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Cactoblastis cactorum PHYCITINAE PYRALIDAE 

This moth is not a native of Australia, it was introduced to control the introduced pest, Prickly Pear cactus (Genus Opuntia).
Further reading of the story in the PDF:-
https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/55301/IPA-Prickly-Pear-Story-PP62.pdf






Family:- PYRALIDAE
Sub Family:- PHYCITINAE
Genus:- Cactoblastis
Species:- cactorum

The photo above is the caterpillar of the Cactoblastis moth, not taken on our property but the moths was. Some of our neighbours are not good about removing pest plants.

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Wednesday 10 July 2019

Araeomorpha diplopa

Araeomorpha diplopa ACENTROPINAE CRAMBIDAE 

A small moth, wing span 10 to 12mm
I could find nothing on it's biology.






Family:- CRAMBIDAE
Sub Family:- ACENTROPINAE
Genus:- Araeomorpha
Species:- diplopa











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Cephonodes Sp MACROGLOSSINAE SPHINGIDAE 

Most hawk moths are night flyers but this one is often seen during the day.
Some months ago a friend sent me photo of this moth. The first time I had come across one, and just a few weeks later there was this one in our garden. There were a few reports of others around the area so there must have been a large hatching or a migration.

This is an old moth and my photo doesn't do the species justice. I recommend the article at:-
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/sphi/hylas.html
Wingspan about 40mm.







 Family:- SPHINGIDAE
Sub Family:- MACROGLOSSINAE
Genus:- Cephonodes Sp
Species:- (Possibly hylas)

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Wednesday 3 July 2019

Macrobathra Sp

Macrobathra Sp COSMOPTERIGINAE COSMOPTERIGIDAE

It is something of an impossible task to get down to species level for these moths.
I think it is likely to be a Macrobathra anacampta COSMOPTERIGINAE COSMOPTERIGIDAE, however the best photo match I could find is an unnamed photo on Bold Systems "(Macrobathra sp. ANIC14 - 11ANIC-13233) CC BY-NC-SA (2011) CSIRO/BIO Photography Group"
Wing span is around 12mm.




 Family:- COSMOPTERIGIDAE
Sub Family:- COSMOPTERIGINAE
Genus:- Macrobathra
Species:- anacampta (Possibly)















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 Stagmatophora argyrostrepta COSMOPTERIGINAE COSMOPTERIGIDAE 

This one is also difficult but I think this is the best match.
Wingspan small possibly about 10mm or a little less.
The moth in the background of the second photo, is probably a
Cryptophlebia moth (TORTRICIDAE) with a wing span of about 20mm.



 Family:- COSMOPTERIGIDAE
Sub Family:- COSMOPTERIGINAE
Genus:-  Stagmatophora
Species:- argyrostrepta

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