Moths of Toowoomba

Spoladea recurvalis

Spoladea recurvalis SPILOMELINAE CRAMBIDAE

This is another one I missed doing a Blog on in the first round.
This a very common moth around here and often seen flying during the day.
The larval food plants around here include Atriplex Sp. salt bushes and Chenopodium Sp. which are a weed here.
They are a pest on Beet vegetable crops.
Wing span about 20mm.

Family:- CRAMBIDAE
Sub Family:- SPILOMELINAE
Genus:- Spoladea
Species:- recurvalis












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I discovered I hadn't done a Blog on Spoladea recurvalis when I went to show these next couple of photos.

We has some good rain in February and have had another small amount just recently. The result is that despite it being late in the season, the butterflies and moths are reproducing in quite large numbers. There is not the variety we used to get but that may come.

Two sites west of us here have had flooding rain in February and a couple of weeks ago we were seeing an amazing number of  moths and butterflies. At one site, an unusually large number of caterpillars on plants and on the ground, moving from one area to another.
I don't think we can say the drought has really broken yet, but the plants and insects are certainly appreciating the water.

Daisies are always a good food plant for butterflies and moths, at least the ones that can feed on the nectar.

These daisies were in large numbers in an area that was recently flooded.

The photo to the left has two moths and a grass blue butterfly. There was a large number of species at that particular site about 80 Klm west of here.

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