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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 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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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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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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Ptochostola microphaeellus

Ptochostola microphaeellus CRAMBINAE CRAMBIDAE 

These are mainly grass moths and bore into the stems of the plants.
Larval food plants include Musci (mosses), Avena sativa (Gramineae) Oats, Phragmites australis (Gramineae) Common reeds, Triticum (Gramineae) Wheat.
Wingspan around 12mm.

Family:- CRAMBIDAE
Sub Family:- CRAMBINAE
Genus:- Ptochostola
Species:- microphaeellus




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Thallarcha staurocola LITHOSIINI EREBIDAE 

I don't have any information on larval food plants.
Wingspan around 19mm.

Family:- EREBIDAE
Sub Family:- LITHOSIINI
Genus:- Thallarcha
Species:- staurocola












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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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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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