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Wednesday, 19 June 2019

Hypoperigea tonsa

Hypoperigea tonsa AMPHIPYRINAE NOCTUIDAE

There doesn't seem to be much information on the biology of this moth. The only mention was a wingspan of 25mm, I think this sample was a little bigger than that, probably closer to 30mm.




 Family:- NOCTUIDAE
Sub Family:- AMPHIPYRINAE
Genus:- Hypoperigea
Species:- tonsa
The second photo, although not a particularly good photo, does show some of the rear wing colouring.

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Lichenaula undulatella XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE 

The larval food plants include a number of Acacia (Mimosaceae) particularly A.decurrens, and Jacksonia scoparia (Fabaceae), common name Dogwood.
It is likely that the Jacksonia is the food plant here. We have a number of them. The Wattles are probably too far away to be attracted to the house lights.
 




Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Lichenaula
Species:- undulatella









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Wednesday, 12 June 2019

The last of XYLORYCTIDAE

At least for the time being.

I think this moth is probably:-

Chalarotona intabescens XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE.

If the identification is correct then the larval food plants are Banksia species.
The larvae tunnel in to the flower spikes of Banksia especially B. serrata and B. ericifolia.

 

 Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Chalarotona
Species:- intabescens

































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Yponomeuta paurodes YPONOMEUTINAE YPONOMEUTIDAE 

So far this is the only member of YPONOMEUTIDAE that I have found here.
The larval food plants are in the CELASTRACEAE family mainly Cassine australis, an attractive tree in the area and on our property. We also have other members of CELASTRACEAE here.







Family:- YPONOMEUTIDAE
Sub Family:- YPONOMEUTINAE
Genus:- Yponomeuta
Species:- paurodes













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This brings to an end the moths that I have organised into their families, although I will have to go over the lists again at a later date, to pick up the ones I skipped over, because I was not able to identify them well enough.
I still have a lot of, as yet unidentified and unsorted moth photos.
I will gradually work through them and ID them and put them on the Blog, but it may slow down the postings a bit.
For what it is worth, I have now put over 470 moth species on this Blog, and all of them from our one Hectare (about 2.4 acres) block.
Considering that I don't use the powerful Actinic lights, only a tiny UV light, and mostly not even that, I am amazed at the variety and number of moths that we have here.
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Wednesday, 5 June 2019

Cryptophasa, possibly irrorata Sp.

 Cryptophasa Poss irrorata XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE

 It is not easy to be sure of identification of this moth because they tend to vary quite a bit.
If I have the identification correct the larval food plant would be She Oak ( Casuarina, CASUARINACAE ).
Note the unusually large scales and scattered pattern of this moth.
This is a large moth and the wingspan judging from the flyscreen grid, would be about 45mm.




Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Cryptophasa
Species:- irrorata (Possibly)

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Pilostibes stigmatias XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE 

Mainly a rainforest moth from southern Queensland to Newcastle in NSW.
The larval food is likely to be Elaeocarpus obovatus (ELAEOCARPACEAE), common name, Hard Quandong.
It is native to this area and we have some on our property. The larvae bore into the stems on the plant but eat the leaves.
Wingspan about 30mm.


Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Pilostibes
Species:- stigmatias





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Wednesday, 29 May 2019

Cryptophasa

Cryptophasa pultenae XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE

The most likely larval food plants here are Acmena smithii,(MYRTACEAE) and Syzygium paniculatum, (MYRTACEAE).
There is an article on the food plants on the blog:-
https://toowoombaplants2008.blogspot.com  on  Friday, July 26, 2013

The moths are sexually dimorphic, the male in this photo has black hindwings, the female, not pictured, has white hindwings.
The antennae of the males are always bipectinate, as are all the Cryptophasa males.
Wing span around 30mm.





Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Cryptophasa
Species:- pultenae


























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Cryptophasa rubescens XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE

This is a male and is a fairly big moth with a wingspan around 50mm.
 The caterpillar of this species bores into the stems of many Acacia species, (MIMOSACEAE), then feed on the leaves which they tie to the entrance of their hole with silk.




Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Cryptophasa
Species:- rubescens

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Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Cryptophasa flavolineata

Cryptophasa flavolineata XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE

Wing span about 50mm.
Larval foodplant Banksia integrifolia and Syzygium oleosum.




Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:- Cryptophasa
Species:- flavolineata

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Cryptophasa panleuca XYLORYCTINAE XYLORYCTIDAE 

About 40 mm wingspan.
The larval food plants are Lophostemon species (Myrtaceae).






 Family:- XYLORYCTIDAE
Sub Family:- XYLORYCTINAE
Genus:-  Cryptophasa
Species:- panleuca



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Wednesday, 8 May 2019

URANIIDAE

I have previously done a Blog on URANIIDAE, on Thursday, 10 September 2015,  but here are a couple to add to that. Just a reminder, URANIIDAE have a little trick to make it difficult to identify them by rolling their wings, if you see the previous entry in Sept. 2015 above you will see what I mean. Not all of them can roll their wings, but most we get here do.
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Rhombophylla xylinopis EPIPLEMINAE URANIIDAE 1121 -4507



Family:- URANIIDAE
Sub Family:-  EPIPLEMINAE
Genus:- Rhombophylla
Species:- xylinopis





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Micronia species URANIINAE URANIIDAE





Family:- URANIIDAE
Sub Family:- URANIINAE
Genus:-  Micronia
Species:- species












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Wednesday, 1 May 2019

 Asthenoptycha sphaltica

Asthenoptycha sphaltica TORTRICINAE TORTRICIDAE 

The best match I can find for this moth is mostly known from well south of here. Some times that only means that no one has bothered to collect it here, but it can also mean I have the wrong ID.
However it still is a pretty good match so I will call it a probable.





Family:- TORTRICIDAE
Sub Family:- TORTRICINAE
Genus:- Asthenoptycha (probably)
Species:- sphaltica (probably)














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Epiphyas postvittana TORTRICINAE TORTRICIDAE

This moth is a male.
The species is a pest on many plants but don't really cause us any problems here. The likely larval food plants here are :-
Grapes (VITACEAE) (The neighbors have them growing on the common fence)
Citrus trees (RUTACEAE)
Lomandra species (LAXMANNIACEAE)
Acacia species (MIMOSACEAE)
Eucalyptus species (MYRTACEAE)





Family:- TORTRICIDAE
Sub Family:- TORTRICINAE
Genus:- Epiphyas 
Species:- postvittana











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