Two new moths

A burst of quite hot weather has brought out a lot of moths. The weather is still very dry but in the space of a week I have seen a number of new moths here. Two of the new moths are below.

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Diasemiopsis ramburialis SPILOMELINAE CRAMBIDAE

Although this moth is supposed to be fairly common world wide, I have never noticed it here before.
The larval food plant was previously thought to be possibly a Brassica species, but I came across an article on the internet in which the moth larvae are helping to control the Azolla water fern (Azolla filiculoides Lam., Azollaceae) in rice plantations in Iran. This is a relatively new discovery confirming the larval food plant.
The article can be found at https://nl.pensoft.net/article/6887/

There is a further article on the water fern in Australia :-
http://toowoombaplants2008.blogspot.com.au/search?q=Azolla

Family:- CRAMBIDAE
Sub Family:- SPILOMELINAE
Genus:-  Diasemiopsis
Species:- ramburialis







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Euchaetis rhizobola OECOPHORINAE OECOPHORIDAE 

With a wingspan of around 30mm this is a large moth for this family. The larval food plant is the green leaves of  the Eucalyptus trees. They can be found over a range from Yeppoon, in Queensland to Victoria and also in south Western Australia.
The rear wings of the moth are a brilliant silver white.
In the photo of the underside you can see that one of the labial palps is missing. I took another photo a couple of  days later of another moth of the same species with both palps in tact, so there are at least a couple of the moths around at the moment.

Family:- OECOPHORIDAE
Sub Family:- OECOPHORINAE
Genus:- Euchaetis
Species:- rhizobola











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Avatha discolor EREBINAE  EREBIDAE

Was:- Avatha discolor CATOCALINAE NOCTUIDAE
This moth has many synonyms, because they can be quite variable. It was given 10 different names by Walker  in 1857 and 1858, then a further 6 different names by Strand 1917 and 1920, only to find that it had been identified by Fabricius in 1794 and then, with a different name again in 1794.
Of the host plant species I could find, Sapindus, (Sapindaceae family) and Callicarpa (Lamiaceae) are the only plants families we have here.

Family:- EREBIDAE
Sub Family:- EREBINAE
Genus:-  Avatha
Species:-  discolor

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Brithys crini NOCTUINAE NOCTUIDAE

Was:- Brithys crini HADENINAE NOCTUIDAE
The larval food plant here is most likely to be Crinum angustifolium. They bore up the stems of the plant.

Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- NOCTUINAE
Genus:- Brithys
Species:- crini

They are an attractive caterpillar and the larval food plant is a native to this area.




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Araeopteron canescens BOLETOBIINAE EREBIDAE

Was:- Araeopteron canescens ACONTIINAE NOCTUIDAE
One site suggests the sub family is Erebinae rather than Boletobiinae.
This moth has a wing span of about 10mm.

Family:- EREBIDAE
Sub Family:- BOLETOBIINAE
Genus:- Araeopteron
Species:- canescens

Not the best set of photos. I must try again.

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Arrade destituta HYPENINAE EREBIDAE

was Arrade destituta HYPENINAE NOCTUIDAE

Family:- EREBIDAE
Sub Family:- HYPENINAE
Genus:- Arrade
Species:- destituta










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Agrotis NOCTUIDAE

Of the five moths below that we are supposed to be likely to find in this area, I have only ever been able to reasonably identify two,  Agrotis porphyricollis and Agrotis munda.
A. porphyricollis is fairly distinctive where A. munda and some of  the others are very similar, especially where the moths are not in the best condition. A. porphyricollis is only an occasional visitor here where A. munda is a regular pretty much all year round.

 Agrotis porphyricollis NOCTUINAE NOCTUIDAE

 Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- NOCTUINAE
Genus:- Agrotis
Species:- porphyricollis

 This one is in poor condition but is in its usual at rest position.











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 Agrotis munda NOCTUINAE NOCTUIDAE

The larval food plants of A. munda are many of our cereal and fodder crops where they can be a serious pest:-  Barley, cotton, lucerne, tobacco, tomato, maize and various vegetables.

Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- NOCTUINAE
Genus:- Agrotis
Species:- munda

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 Aedia NOCTUIDAE

 Aedia leucomelas Sub Sp acronyctoides ACRONICTINAE NOCTUIDAE

Aedia leucomelas, the leucomelas species is fairly common through out Europe. The Australian representitive is sub species A. acronyctoides and is known through northern Australia and down the east coast and in South Australia.
The larvae have been found on Convolvulus erubescens (Convolvulaceae) and Chondrilla juncea (Asteraceae).

Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- ACRONICTINAE
Genus:- Aedia 
Species:- leucomelas
Sub Species:- acronyctoides





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Acontia  NOCTUIDAE   Week 3

  This is the final lot from Acontia. Although I have some other photos they are closely matched with the ones I am presenting here.

These are possibly Acontia detrita (Sometimes referred to as Acontia clarissa )

 Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- ACONTIINAE
Genus:- Acontia
Species:- possibly detrita species

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I think this is Acontia crocata

Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- ACONTIINAE 
Genus:- Acontia
Species:- possibly crocata species but I may be wrong because I think they are possibly too tropical for us.





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Acontia NOCTUIDAE Week 2

These moths are tentatively named mostly by the elimination of the ones that they are least likely to be. This can hardly be called exacting or reliable, however the sample photos is what matters in this case. Positive identification is really not possible from the photos alone.

Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- ACONTIINAE 
Genus:- Acontia
Species:-  Possibly elaeoa species

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Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- ACONTIINAE 
Genus:- Acontia
Species:-  all four are possibly nivipicta species

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