Ellura Sanctuary, Swan Reach, SA, 5354
                      
It's possible 20 different species can look identical (needing dissection to differentiate); as such many id's here don't go to species level
Stat'
Notes
Thumbnails: 2397.   373 native species (8 introduced) listed, with 318 natives (5 introduced) from Ellura
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
All Butterflies, Moths & Skippers have scales, not hair. Even the hairy looking strands are thin forms of scales.
These are produced by cuticle (much like human finger nails). These are a different biological form & chemistry compared with hairs & follicles (but similar in some ways). They are both forms of keratin.
We have some close up shots of various shapes & colours of scales under our Meadow Argus.
Lepidoptera wings often have hair like scales on the trailing edge making different patterns.
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Fairy Moth (:Adeloidea Adelidae); 2 species, none from Ellura
Dapled Fairy Longhorn Moth
Ceromitia cf iolampra
Na
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Head & body ~7mm, wingspan ~15mm. Very long antennae at ~16mm long.
As you can see this one is very deformed. We'd suggest the wings didn't form properly in the begining, rather than being crushed later, as they both appear to be very restricted at certain points. Due to it's poor condition, it's difficult to be sure of our id.
Imaged 1 in May
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Black-headed Fairy Longhorn Moth
Nemophora laurella


iNaturalist
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SynonymNemophora topazias

Thank you Ethan Beaver for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in May
Profile
Dorsal
Very long Antenna
Head
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Anthelid Moth (:Bombycoidea Anthelidae); 4 species, 2 from Ellura
Toothed Anthelid
Anthela basigera


iNaturalist
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Thank you (RattyExplores ) for confirming the id of this species for us

Id was arrived at by matching on-line photo's. In future we will raise those we find to improve the id.
Imaged 2J in Aug
Dorsal, ~30mm
Ventral
Close up, head
Close up, white verrucae
Close up, red hair + blue patch
Urticating Anthelid
Anthela nicothoe


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ethan Beaver & Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body ~25mm, wingspan ~70mm.
This is a fairly worn specimen.
Imaged 3(2M,1J) in Feb(1M), Mar(1M) & Nov(1J)
Dorsal
Hindwing
Antennae
Ventral
Eyespot Anthelid
Anthela ocellata
Na
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Found on the ground dead. Wingspan ~45mm
Imaged 1 in Dec
Male, dorsal
Male, forewing
Male, antenna
Male, antenna
Male, ventral
Ruby Anthelid
Anthela rubeola


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ethan Beaver & Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body of adults is ~20mm, natural wingspan ~57mm, measured wingspan up to ~75mm. Larvae reach up to ~50mm long.
While called "Ruby" these can be anything from pale brown/grey through to ruby. Colour variation is not associated with gender.
Their legs & palps always seem to have ruby highlights, regardless of wing colour.
While males & females have bipectinate antennae, the females have much smaller pectinations. As is typical, the female bodies are much larger (longer & wider) than the males.
Notice the contrasting white hairs/scales on the knees.
Some larvae were found on Acacia hakeoides & others on Senna artemisioides. The larvae have 5 pairs of prolegs and 3 "real", or thoracic, legs (these are kept to adult, whereas the prolegs are lost). Notice also the spiracles (breathing holes) on their sides which are white, vertical ovals just above the prolegs.
We captured a larva in Oct 2021, which pupated soon after. It then emerged mid-Jun 2022, providing our first female; ie 8 months pupating. It's interesting to see the cocoon completely obscurs the pupal case. After she emerged we extracted the cocoon and cut it in half to show the solid pupal case inside; which was ~20mm long. The hole they emerge from is tiny, ~5mm round, compared to their body & wing size.
We didn't see an adult until May 2018 and suddenly we found around 20 males coming to night lights.
Imaged 25(19M,1F,5J) in May(2M), Jun(15:14M,1F), Jul(2M), Aug(1M) & Oct(5J)
🔍S4, Grey Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Ruby Male, dorsal
🔍S6, Grey Male, dorsal
🔍S7, Ruby Male, dorsal
S8, Grey Male, size comparison
Ruby Males, dorsal
🔍S12, Ruby Male, dorsal
🔍S15, Grey Male, dorsal
🔍S20, Ruby Male, dorsal, Battered
🔍S4, Grey Male, profile
🔍S5, Ruby Male, profile
🔍S4, Grey Male, anterior
🔍S5, Ruby Male, anterior
🔍S4, Grey Male, ventral
S1, Lavae, dorsal
S2, Lavae, dorsal
🔍S2, Lavae, profile
S1, Lavae, anterior
S2, Lavae, Face
S3, Lavae, Face
S2, Lavae, Spiracle
S2, Lavae, Unid'ed Mite
S2, Lavae, Proleg Feet
S2, Lavae, ventral
🔍S24, Larva, dorsal
🔍S24, Larva, profile
🔍S24, Larva, Face
🔍S24, Larva, ventral
🔍S24, Cocoon
🔍S24, Cocoon, Close Up
🔍S24, Grey Female, dorsal
🔍S24, Grey Female, profile
🔍S24, Grey Female, Hindwing
🔍S24, Grey Female, Under Wings
🔍S24, Grey Female, Antenna, dorsal
🔍S24, Grey Female, Antenna, profile
🔍S24, Grey Female, ventral
🔍S24, Pupal Case
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Snout Moth (:Bombycoidea Lasiocampidae); 6 species, 5 from Ellura
Gum Snout Moth
Entometa guttularis


iNaturalist
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Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

~25mm long, with starkly contrasting red to orange hind wings.
Pretty rare in SA.
Can be separated from the more usual Entometa fervens by the lack of a dark patch under the hind wing.
Imaged 5M in Mar(1M) & Apr(4M)
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile, Wings Up
🔍Male, profile, Wings Down
🔍Male, Hindwing
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Male, Antenna, end on
🔍Male, ventral
Clear Winged Snout Moth
Genduara subnotata


iNaturalist
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Thank you Peter Marriott, Prof Victor W Fazio III† & David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us

~17mm long, ~33mm wingspan.
The caterpillars have variations in colour (from grey to brown).
The adults reflect blue in artificial light that isn't visible in sunlight, which are camera artefacts
Males loose their scales easily to show clear wings. Even the female wings are quite translucent.
Both Males & females have large bipectinate antennae (2 rows of filaments)
On 25th April 2017, we caught specimen 8 as a caterpillar and raised her to adult. She was found on Leafless Cherry (Exocarpos aphyllus) and was ~34mm long (ignoring hairy horns). She pupated pretty quickly so was in her final stage as a caterpillar. Notice she is quite white compared with other on-line photo's; which indicates this isn't just wear but a local variation. Possibly due to her food source. Our caterpillars also have a white streak on the back, which is less prominent in most other on-line photo's.
The eggs depicted here are assumed to be this species, we didn't raise them to prove they are this species. They were on Exocarpos aphyllus that the caterpillar was found on.
We've added photo's of a new larva that was damaged. It turned out to be parasitised by a bristle fly: Fleshfly-mimicking Bristle Fly (Exorista sp)
You can see it's injured on the middle of it's back. It exhibited strange behaviour, rearing up bending at the "bruised" area. We suspect it was in pain :-( It started cocooning that day.
Imaged 19(3M,5F,5J) in Feb(1M), Mar(2M), Apr(3:2F,1J), May(3J), Jun(8:1F,1J,6E), Oct(1F) & Dec(1F)
🔍Eggs
🔍S8, Female, larva, dorsal
🔍S8, Female, larva, profile
🔍S8, Female, pupa
🔍S8, Female, dorsal
🔍S8, Female, profile
🔍S8, Female, anterior
🔍S8, Female, underwings
🔍S8, Female, translucent wings
🔍S8, Female, forewing patch
🔍S8, Female, ventral
S2, Larva, dorsal
S4, Larva, dorsal, ~22mm
S4, Larva, Head, showing ocelli
S4, Larva, ventral
S5, Larva, dorsal, ~23mm
S5, Larva, profile
S1, Female, dorsal, thin
S1, Female, profile
S6, Female, dorsal, ~20mm
S6, Female, profile, wingspan ~32mm
🔍S6, Female, Released
S6, Female, anterior
S6, Female, posterior
S6, Female, ventral
S7, Female, Body, dorsal
S7, Female, Body, profile
S7, Female, Eye + Antenna
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, dorsal
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, profile
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, Eyes
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, Rearing Up
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, Injury
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, Face
🔍S12, Parisitised Larva, Ventral
Wattle Snout Moth
Pararguda nasuta


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Thank you Karen Weaving for identifying this species for us

Imaged 3 Males in Oct.
Imaged 3 in Oct
🔍S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, ventral
Dryland Sheoak Moth
Pernattia chlorophragma


iNaturalist
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Other Common NamesShe-oak Moth or She Oak Moth

Thank you (RattyExplores ) for confirming the id of this species for us

~30mm long. Found in a She-oak area.
Imaged 1 in Oct
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Dog Collar
🔍Tufts
🔍Anterior
🔍Ventral
Rusty Snout Moth
Symphyta MoV1


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~18mm long, ~35mm wingspan.
This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 1 as Symphyta sp. (1).
They have very finely scoloped trailing wings, with the points highlighted in black. A very buff looking moth.
Usually they sit with their antennae tucked away under their wings, but we got one with it's antennae protruding.
Imaged 15(4M) in Jan(12:1M), Nov(1M) & Dec(2M)
🔍S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, dorsal
🔍S6, Male, dorsal
🔍S7, Male, dorsal
🔍S15, Male, dorsal
🔍S15, Male, dorsal, Wings Up
🔍S4, Male, profile
🔍S8, Male, profile
🔍S4, Male, Hindwing
🔍S15, Male, Underwing
S4, Male, Antenna Filaments
Black Striked Snout Moth
Symphyta MoV2


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1st Live Photo on-line:
This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 1 as Symphyta sp. (2)
The female was larger with head & body ~17mm, wingspan ~38mm. Males have head & body ~15mm, wingspan ~31mm.
While both genders have bipectinate antennae, you can see from the photo's the males have much larger antennae (in proportion to body size) than the females. Also notice the males have a much more contrasting colour scheme with blacks & whites, rather than the more drab greys & browns of the female.
Very similar to Symphyta oxygramma; the differences are unclear. It seems S. oxygramma has brown antennae pectinations while this one has black pectinations. S. oxygramma is known from Broken Hill NSW & WA, indicating NW Victoria & the arid regions of SA are also likely locations for it to be found.
Similar to the Genduara subnotata above, these have thin, translucent wings.
Imaged 10(9M,1F) in Apr(3M) & May(7:6M,1F)
S3, Male, dorsal, tenting
S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Female, dorsal
🔍S5, Female, dorsal, tenting
🔍S8, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
S2, Male, profile
S3, Male, profile
S4, Male, profile
🔍S5, Female, profile
S6, Male, profile
🔍S8, Male, profile
S4, Male, Body, profile
🔍S5, Female, Body, profile
S4, Male, anterior
🔍S8, Male, Stance
🔍S8, Male, Antenna
S3, Male, Hindwing
🔍S5, Female, Hindwing
S3, Male, Translucent Wings
🔍S5, Female, Underwings
🔍S8, Male, Underwing
S3, Male, ventral
🔍S5, Female, ventral
🔍S8, Male, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Emperor Moth (:Bombycoidea Saturniidae); 1 species, none from Ellura
Helena Gum Moth
Opodiphthera helena
Na
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Imaged 1M in Sep
Male, Adult, Fore-wings only, dorsal
Male, Adult, Partial Hind-wings, dorsal
🔍Male, Adult, All 4 Wings, dorsal
Male, Adult, front
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Hawk Moth (:Bombycoidea Sphingidae); 5 species, 4 from Ellura
Convolvulus Hawk Moth
Agrius convolvuli


iNaturalist
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Thank you Leon Crang & Dianne Clarke for confirming the id of this species for us

~91mm wingspan, ~40mm long male.
The body has pinkish red patches that it shows when if feels threatened. The underside of the body also has a pink tinge. Perhaps to indicate to predators it doesn't taste very good.
The antennae are very interesting with this family. They look white on top and seemed to be cupped under, with 2 filamented fans every segment. The tip is a pointy, whispy affair. Males & Females generally look similar, but can be differentiated by the antennal fans. On the Male antennae the fans are much long and protrude well passed the antennae, whereas with the females they are barely visible.
The wings have lovely sculptured edges, with a small white spot near the middle of the forewings.
The general colour of these seems to be quite variable, S2 being on the greyer side, with some pale rusty streaks. The lines in S1 are the same, but the overall colour is darker.
Imaged 2 in Mar
🔍S2, Female, dorsal, Body Colour
🔍S2, Female, dorsal, Hiding Body
S1, Male, profile
🔍S2, Female, profile
S1, Male, Forewing & Antennae
🔍S2, Female, Forewing
🔍S2, Female, Hindwing
🔍S2, Female, Body Colour
🔍S2, Female, Front Leg
🔍S2, Female, Antenna Cup
🔍S2, Female, Antenna Fans
🔍S2, Female, Antenna Tip
🔍S2, Male, ventral
Vine Hawk Moth
Hippotion celerio


iNaturalist
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Thank you Stewart Tomlinson & Dr Bostjan Dvorak for confirming the id of this species for us

~40mm long & ~72mm wingspan.
Note the fine hairs on the antennae making this a male.
Also not the stunning hot pink hindwings & orange racing stripes down the side of the thorax.
Imaged 1 in Mar
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Forewing
🔍Male, Windwing
🔍Male, Head & Antenna
🔍Male, ventral
Scrofa Hawk Moth
Hippotion scrofa


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameCoprosma Hawk Moth

Thank you Matt Campbell, Prof Victor W Fazio III†, David Muirhead & Dr Bostjan Dvorak for confirming the id of this species for us

~35mm long & ~70mm wingspan.
Came to night light.
Female as it has no hairs/pectinations/filaments on the antennae. While not obvious, the male does have tiny ones as can be seen in the photo's here.
Stunning red or orange (depending on specimen) hind wings.
Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Jan(1M) & Mar(1F)
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Female, profile
🔍Female, partial Hindwing
🔍Female, anterior
🔍Female, Antenna
🔍Female, perspective
🔍Female, ventral
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, profile, wings up
🔍Male, under wings
🔍Male, Hindwing
🔍Male, Damanged Forewing
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Male, Antenna
Desert Hawk Moth
Hopliocnema brachycera


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Stewart Tomlinson & Dr Bostjan Dvorak for confirming the id of this species for us

These are small for Hawk Moths. ~20-23mm long & ~41-49mm wingspan. Female antennae are bipectinate, but easily mistaken for filiform as the pectinations/teeth are so short. Males have a strange antennae structure. Officially they are bipectinate (2 "teeth" off each antennal segment, with larger "teeth" than females), but compared with other bipectinate antennae they are very complex; as can be seen in the photo's. We would actually class them as quad-pectinate (4 main "teeth" per antenna segment). The pectinations are more like fans rather than individual teeth or filaments. The latin "pectin" means comb, implying the bipectinate antennae are like combs with two rows of teeth.
The antennae also appear to be two coloured; with white scales covering on top, and ochre brown under. In fact the ochre brown is the colour of the antennae and the white scales can wear off.
They are nearly impossible to distinguish from the other species in the genus. Their hindwings are diagnostic and are basically white (to pale grey) with some possible horizontal striping.
H. ochra has a deeply coloured, orange, discal spot on the forewings. While H. brachycera's spot can be grey to beige, it's not orange.
H. lacunosa is harder to separate from H. brachycera with a darker strip on the inner margin of the hind wing.
H. lacunosa seems restricted to a small area in the South of WA. H. ochra is in the north of SA, as well as WA & NT. H. brachycera is found in all mainland States.
There is a chestnut/red tinge to the ventral abdomen scales.
The body has a black tuft behind the shoulders, between the wings, that shows in the profile shots.
The forewing lines look somewhat variable in shape.
When the scales wear off on the their abdomen, their skin looks green.
We have included a large number of photo's to show the differences between individuals; as well as when worn.
Imaged 36(11M,3F) in Jan(20:1M,1F,13E), Feb(1M), Nov(5:4M,1F) & Dec(10:5M,1F,4E)
S1, Male, dorsal, tent
S2, Male, dorsal, closed
S8, Male, dorsal, tent
S10, Male, dorsal, closed
S11, Male, dorsal, tent
S12, dorsal, closed
S1, Male, dorsal, open
S3, Male, dorsal, open
S4, Male, dorsal, open
S5, Male, dorsal, open
S7, Male, dorsal, open
S9, Male, dorsal, open
S11, Male, dorsal, open
S6, Female, dorsal, open
S13, Female, dorsal, open
S1, Male, profile
S2, Male, profile
S10, Male, profile
S2, Male, Forewing
S4, Male, Hindwing
S7, Male, Hindwing
S8, Male, Hindwing
S9, Male, Hindwing
S11, Male, Hindwing
S6, Female, Hindwing
S13, Female, Hindwings
S2, Male, Antennae white scales
S9, Male, Antenna, worn scales
S11, Male, Antenna Segments
S3, Male, Antenna fans
S6, Female, Antenna
S10, Male, anterior
S13, Female, anterior
S14, Eggs from S13
S7, Male, ventral
S11, Male, ventral
S6, Female, ventral
S13, Female, ventral
Australian Striped Hawk Moth
Hyles livornicoides


iNaturalist
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Thank you Stephen Fricker for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Mar
Adult, dorsal
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Sun Moth (:Castnioidea Castniidae); 1 species, none from Ellura
Orange-spotted Sun Moth
Synemon parthenoides ssp parthenoides


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameLink Moth

Similar Species: Klug's Xenica (Geitoneura klugii)
Thank you Ethan Beaver for confirming the id of this species for us

A very special thank you to Rusty Ryder for taking us to their location and pointing them out to us. In flight they looked very much like the brown butterflies around at the time. If Rusty wasn't there to point them out to us, we wouldn't have noticed them, just thinking they were fast flying brown butterflies.
A most unusual moth in that their antennae are the same as a butterflies, clubbed on the end; plus never sits with it's wings vertically together like butterflies.
As we weren't able to catch one, we have no size information, but they were smaller than the Klug's Xenica. Similar to Synemon sophia (another sun moth species). We suspect the 4th photo shows a female as the body is fatter & not as elongated as the other 3 (possibly males?). Notice the iridescence on the leading edge of the forewings (which disappears easily with a slight tilt) as well as along the trailing edge of all wings.
Imaged 1 in Dec
🔍Dorsal
🔍Iridescence
🔍Under wing
🔍Female? Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Wood Moth (:Cossoidea Cossidae); 10 species, 8 from Ellura
Undescribed Wood Moth
Archaeoses ANIC1


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

This is figured on Bold as Archaeoses ANIC1
These vary in size between 14mm up to 21mm head & body length. It seems the larger ones have fatter bodies and suspect them to be females; with the shorter, slimmer ones males.
Imaged 25(8M,5F) in Mar(22:8M,5F,4E) & Apr(3)
S1, Male?, dorsal
S2, Male?, dorsal
S2, Male?, profile
S3, Female?, profile
S3, Female?, anterior
S2, Male?, Hindwings + Abdomen
S2, Male?, ventral
S5, Female?, ventral
Tufted Wood Moth
Archaeoses pentasema


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameTufted Goat Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Leon Crang for confirming and Don Herbison-Evans & Peter Marriott for helping with the id of this species for us

A most unusual species, ~20mm long.
While it seemed this was a northern species we have now shown it exists in the south; along with A. polygrapha. We had 4 specimens come to a night light over a couple of days.
We asked Don Herbison-Evans for his thoughts and he agrees it looks more like A. pentasema than A. polygrapha. He then gave us some reading to do from the original descriptions by Lower. It was hard going and to be honest the only diagnostic we felt we could be truly certain of as a reliable difference was the antennae "base beneath sharply white". You can see this on both ventral & anterior photo's. The abdomen is generally darker with this one as well.
Surprisingly the ventral abdomenal black stripe wasn't mentioned anywhere.
Peter Marriott (who heads up the "Moths of Victoria" team and has helped us in the past), saw this page and kindly told us that they have records of A. pentasema in North Western Victoria. We share a lot of species with North Western Victoria; suddenly it's not such a surprise to have them at Ellura now
Peter also showed us 3 specimens collected there and ours match up beautifully with those
Further Peter let us know they feed on Myoporum, common trees on Ellura.
Imaged 19 in Jan(1), Feb(1), Mar(16) & Apr(1)
S2, Dorsal
S1, Profile
S2, Profile
S3, Profile
S5, Profile
S2, Anterior
S2, Hindwings
S1, Abdomen, profile
S1, Ventral
Southern Wood Moth
Culama australis


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~18mm long
Imaged 3 in Jan
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S2, profile
🔍S1, Antenna
🔍S2, Antenna
🔍S1, anterior
🔍S1, ventral
Singed Wood Moth
Culama crepera


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

~15mm long, ~36mm wingspan.
Very Dark Grey. 1st image attempts to show correct colour, others are lighter to highlight the lines & patterns.
It came to a night light & sheet.
Imaged 4 in Jan(1), Feb(1) & Mar(2)
🔍Dorsal, natural colour
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Antennae
🔍Anterior
🔍Ventral
Wood Moth
Endoxyla amphiplecta


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameGoat Moth

Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying, Axel Kallies for confirming and Mark Ridgeway for helping with the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Marie found this large moth being attacked by small ants. Unsure of what was going on, we put her in a container, but couldn't get the ants off (being those tiny minute ones). Brought her back to the van and found eggs in the container. Using tweezers we got the ants off, which gave her some relief. Realising she was gravid took her out into a big pot full of local soil. She immediately started to push her ovipositor into the soil and "rippled" as she pushed eggs out (we assume). Clearly she can't fly, but has wings. A more technical term for reduced winged, flightless insects is "Brachypterous".
Finding the female takes a keen observer and is a rare find, while males are not so rare. A very worn and battered specimen making 100% identification impossible. But given her body & head size of ~60mm and being in SA, E. amphiplecta seems to fit the best. She's not as dirty as she looks; the "dirt" is actually her only remaining scales she has left. Her damaged wings were ~25mm long, body width approx 10mm, giving a wingspan of ~60mm.
Since Ethan id'ed the female, we found a male of what we think is this species. Again, it's difficult to be sure with this genus and the amount of wear they endure; possibly extracting themselves from the pupal tube.
The male has head & body ~26mm, wingspan ~45mm (under half her size).
Imaged 3(2M,1F) in Jan(1M), Feb(1F) & Dec(1M)
S2, Female, profile
S2, Female, anterior
S2, Female, Laying eggs
S2, Female, Ovipositor
Eggs, ~1mm long
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S4, Male, dorsal
S3, Male, profile
S3, Male, anterior
🔍S4, Male, Antennae
S3, Male, ventral
Wood Moth
Endoxyla coscinophanes
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Other Common NameGoat Moth

Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

As with all these Endoxylas, id to species for amateurs is nearly impossible; due to wear & the variable nature of their patterns. We are lucky to have experts help us with our id's for these difficult to id species.
Imaged 1 in Nov
Witchetty Grub
Endoxyla leucomochla


iNaturalist
Na
f
Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~190mm wingspan, ie huge.
Imaged 1F in Nov
🔍Female, profile
Arid Wood Moth
Endoxyla punctifimbria


iNaturalist
Na
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Other Common NameGoat Moth

Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying and Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

We found 2 Males, one was ~45mm long, wingspan ~90mm; the other ~35mm long & wingspan ~62mm. A huge difference in size.
Imaged 2M in Nov(1M) & Dec(1M)
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
S1, Male, anterior
S1, Male, iso-view
S1, Male, Shoulders, dorsal
S1, Male, Shoulders, profile
S1, Male, Body, dorsal
S1, Male, Body, profile
S1, Male, Hindwing, under
S1, Male, Antenna & Eye
S1, Male, Antenna
S1, Male, Scales
S1, Male, ventral
🔍S2, Male, ventral
Ellura's Wood Moth
Endoxyla sp


iNaturalist
Na
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Other Common NameWattle Goat Moth

Thank you Ethan Beaver & Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body ~73mm, wingspan ~140mm or wider (hard to say as she lost her wing tips)
A number of Endoxyla females are flightless with reduced wings (brachypterous). But with this species the female has fully developed wings. Notice how the female has brown & white striped hindwings, where as the male has all white hindwings.
Neither Axel nor Ethan recognised this species we get regularly on Ellura.
We originally thought it was close to E. encalypti, but Ethan said "I have never seen E. encalypti in SA, I doubt that occurs here."
Axel also said "Pretty sure that is not E. lituratus"
Imaged 16(10M,5F,1J) in Jan(14:10M,4F), Nov(1J) & Dec(1F)
S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, dorsal
🔍S11, Male, dorsal
S1, Female, profile
🔍S4, Male, profile
🔍S14, Female, profile
S1, Female, Head
🔍S4, Male, Hindwing
🔍S14, Female, Hindwing
🔍S5, Male, Antenna
🔍S11, Male, Abdomen
🔍S6, Female & S8, Male, Size Comparison
S1, Female, ventral
Small Wood Moth
Sympycnodes arachnophora
Na
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Other Common NameSmall Goat Moth

Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

Head & body ~22mm, wingspan ~40mm.
We previously thought this was Sympycnodes epicycla.
Imaged 4(1M) in Mar
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, Hindwing
Male, Abdomen
Male, Antennae
Male, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Fringe-tufted Moth (:Epermenioidea Epermeniidae); 1 species, none from Ellura
Shark moth
Epermenia cf exilis
Na
a
Imaged 2 in Sep(1) & Oct(1)
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Seed Borer (:Gelechioidea Cosmopterigidae); 4 species from Ellura
Cosmet Moth
Limnaecia camptosema


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you David Akers for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in May
Burnt Cosmet Moth
Macrobathra cf alternatella
Na
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We didn't get to catch this one, so didn't get size details nor ventral shots. Small

It's white striped antennae are very distinctive, while the white wing patches are quite variable.
Imaged 2 in Nov
Profile
Lined Cosmet Moth
Macrobathra harmostis


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dion Maple for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 3 in Jan(1), Mar(1) & Oct(1)
Profile
Dorsal
Tufted Moth
Trachydora sp
Na
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Other Common NameShark Moth

Estimated wingspan from the flyscreen is ~12mm. A small moth with a number of tufted scales on the back, with orange bases, and the trailing forewings are turned up when at rest.
Imaged 1 in Nov
Profile
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Black-spotted Moth (:Gelechioidea Ethmiidae); 2 species from Ellura
Black-spotted Moth
Ethmia anthracopis


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Imaged 3 in Apr(1) & May(2)
Profile
Dorsal
Front
Close up of Rear
Black-spotted Moth
Ethmia eupostica


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Aug
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Twig Moth (:Gelechioidea Hypertrophidae); 3 species from Ellura
Twisted Black-spotted Twig Moth
Eupselia melanostrepta


iNaturalist
Na
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1st Record in SA on Atlas:
~5.5mm long.
Notice the metallic sheen to the black trailing spots.
Leon Crang kindly advised there is another moth that looks the same, Eupselia theorella, neight of which have been recorded in SA before (nor in the NW Vic, which is a similar bioregion connected by the Murray River). So, as always, please take our id with caution. We may lift to genus in time.
Imaged 1 in Oct
🔍S1, profile
Southern Twig Moth
Thudaca calliphrontis


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Head & body ~7mm, wingspan ~20mm. Known as an SA species, it has also been found in Perth. This is the most easterly location we can find, which suggests it might also exist in Victoria.
Photograped 2 in Oct & Nov.
Imaged 8 in Mar(3), Apr(2), Oct(2) & Nov(1)
🔍S2, Dorsal
🔍S1, Profile
🔍S2, Profile
S2, Anterior
🔍S1, Ventral
Satin Twig Moth
Thudaca campylota


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Head & body ~7mm, wingspan ~20mm.
The first example is a very worn and old specimen. It is normally much more yellow, as can be seen by the following shots.
Imaged 9 in Mar(1), Apr(2), Oct(3) & Nov(3)
S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S2, profile
S1, Partial Hindwing
S1, Palps
S1, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Tropical Longhorned Moth (:Gelechioidea Lecithoceridae); 1 species from Ellura
Tropical Longhorned Moth
Crocanthes glycina


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~8mm long with antennae slightly longer than the body, ~18mm wingspan.
Seems to be completely out of place in this parched semi-arid environment. They are found all along the Eastern Seaboard. There are some near Perth, which makes it look cosmopolitan (ie human transported) but they actually have different DNA.
We've never seen a moth with palps that are actually rolled up!
Came to night light sheet.
Imaged 3 in Mar(1) & Apr(2)
🔍Dorsal
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Oecophorid Moth (:Gelechioidea Oecophoridae); 22 species, 20 from Ellura
Brown Concealer Moth
Barea codrella


iNaturalist
Na
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Tiny little moth, it's sitting on a 22" computer screen and the squares in the background are screen pixels.
Imaged 4 in Mar(3) & Apr(1)
Dorsal
Colourful Timber Moth
Brachybelistis blackburnii


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying and Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~17mm long, ~37mm wingspan
We thought this might be Brachybelistis pentachroa, but Axel said these "dont have yellow hindwings"
Imaged 1F in Dec
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Showing Antenna Length
Calico Stem-borer Moth
Cryptophasa rubra


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies & Ian McMillan for confirming the id of this species for us

~21mm long & ~48mm wingspan.
Females have filiform antennae, males have bipectinate antennae.
We originally thought this was Cryptophasa ochroleuca.
Imaged 5(4M,1F) in Oct(1M) & Dec(4:3M,1F)
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, Antenna
Ladder-marked Twirler Moth
Diapatela semophanes


iNaturalist
Na
m
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Sep
Pink-edged Modest Moth
Garrha absumptella


iNaturalist
Na
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~9mm long, wings eged with a pink ting, with the inner area covered in brown with dark brown dapples.
Imaged 2 in Mar(1) & May(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Plain Modest Moth
Garrha carnea
Na
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Head & body ~8mm, wingspan ~24mm.
Like most Garrha, a flattened moth at rest, with very large up-curved palps, large eyes and scales that look like eyelashes above.
A vague dark brown dappled on pale brown appearance.
Imaged 4 in Mar(1), Apr(1) & Jul(2)
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Pink Modest Moth
Garrha pudica


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 4 in Feb(2), Mar(1) & Apr(1)
Dorsal
Profile (no flash)
Anterior
Ventral
Brown House Moth
Hofmannophila pseudospretella


iNaturalist
If
a
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Jan
Dorsal, natural colour
Dorsal, sharper
Profile, ~8mm
Ventral, wingspan ~20mm
3 Lined 3 Spotted Moth
Meioglossa pentochra
Na
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SynonymMeioglossa pentochroa

A small but distinctive moth. We haven't caught one as yet, but estimate to be around 4-5mm. The palps are long and upcurved, with a dark base and light brown top.
Imaged 3 in Feb(1) & Oct(2)
Profile
Palps, 2 tone
Ticked Conceler Moth
Microbela epicona


iNaturalist
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Thank you Janet Whitington & Jason Van Weenen (JVanWeenen) for confirming the id of this species for us

~5mm long, ~15mm wingspan.
Many years ago we thought this was Chrysonoma tentatella. While they look similar, the palps are different; as is the front band (behind the head). So they sat in our unid'ed folder until yesterday when Dr Peter McQuillan id'ed one nearby on iNat.
They are quite common here.
Imaged 12 in Aug(1), Sep(6) & Oct(5)
🔍S8, dorsal, wings apart
🔍S8, dorsal, wings tented
🔍S9, profile
S8, Partial Hindwing
S9, Head
S8, Fethery Legs
S8, ventral
Wirling-marked Concealer Moth
Oenochroa dinosema


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dr Peter McQuillan for identifying this species for us

Peter said "The small posterior crest on the thorax is a feature of Oenochroa and nicely shown in your photo. Specimens of dinosema from the Mt Lofty Ranges typically have more orange-brown scales on the forewing but I can see a smattering of them in this specimen."
Imaged 2 in Jan
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
Spotted-body Concealer Moth
Pachybela maculisarca


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you D H Fischer for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 3 in Apr
🔍Profile
Purple-sheen Concealer Moth
Philobota ancylotoxa
Na
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SynonymPhilobota biophora

Similar Species: Small Concealer Moth (Philobota sp ES05)
According to Don Herbison-Evans, the wingspan of these is ~25mm where as the very similar Isomoralla curriculata (which we thought this was) has a wingspan of ~15mm.
These look satiny with a purple sheen on the dark markings.
Philobota ancylotoxa is in the same Bold BIN as P. biophora, meaning they are the same species. But that hasn't been picked up th AFD yet.
Measured wingspan of 3 we captured, ~23-28mm .
Imaged 8 in Sep(2) & Oct(6)
Profile, ~13mm
Hindwing
Dorsal
Anterior
Labial Palps
Antenna
Ventral
Outside
Pale Concealer Moth
Philobota partitella


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymOecophora partitella

Head & body is ~8mm long, with a wingspan of ~24mm.
Imaged 3 in May(1), Sep(1) & Nov(1)
Pale Morph, profile
Pale Morph, dorsal
Pale Morph, palps
Pale Morph, ventral, ~9mm
Dash Dot Concealer Moth
Philobota sp ES01
Na
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Head & body is ~8mm long, with a wingspan of ~21mm.
Imaged 12 in Apr(1), Jul(2), Aug(6), Oct(2) & Nov(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Brown Ground Moth
Philobota sp ES02
Na
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Thank you Glenn Cocking for identifying and Peter Marriott for helping with the id of this species for us

Head & body ~10mm, wingspan ~13mm.
Peter said "I have just got an email from Glenn Cocking in Canberra about our flightless gelechioid. He says there was a similar image from a local up there and he tracked down some similar things, also from Canberra, in the ANIC collection. They were from the 1940s to the 1960s, all collected in May, unnamed and placed in the Philobota."
Marie found this flightless female, with reduced wings, walking around the floor of the annex. While we knew it was a Gelechioidea from it's upcurved pointy palps, we hadn't relised they had flightless females. After searching extensively on-line we found nothing like it.
Very excited we asked Peter, who responded with the above.
The reduced wings make the legs look very long.
Initially though it was a long legged fly running around.
Imaged 2F in Jun
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, wings
Female, stance
Female, ventral
White Ground Moth
Philobota sp ES03
Na
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After Marie found the amazing flightless female above, I couldn't let her have all the fun!
So within a week found one myself (couldn't believe I got so lucky!). Turns out it's a different species.
It looks much larger, but is the same size at ~10mm long and ~13mm wingspan.
We couldn't find any hindwings however. They must exist, but one assumes are so reduced that they are not visible (even though the forewings can be seen clear of the body).
Imaged 1 in Jun
🔍Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, anterior
Female, underwings
Female, stance
Female, ventral
Ellura's Ground Moth
Philobota sp ES04


iNaturalist
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Eagle eyed Marie spied these two moths mating on the ground. We realised she had found another different species of female Ground Moth, but this time with the male to now tie the two gender descriptions together. These two have gone off to ANIC where Glenn Cocking is comparing them to other specimens to see if the male can give us a genus / species; with more confidence than the previously assumed Philobota.
Male: ~12m long, ~27mm wingspan. Female:~8mm long, ~7mm wingspan
We believe this one to be a different species to the other two. While similar pattens to Philobota sp ES03, the female has shorter wings here.
We were keen on seeing if she'd lay eggs. After a night in a large enclosure filled with damp soil & various plants, fungi & lichen she was exhaused and had worn off all her scales. When we did see her moving it was to try to dig into the soil.
The lack of scales showed an amazing horn on her face, previously hidden by scales. It seems P. sp ES03 has this as well, but it's not clear.
One can only assume the horn aides her in digging in soil; again assuming that's where she lays her eggs.
Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Jun
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Female, dorsal, with scales
🔍Female, dorsal, without scales
🔍Female, profile
🔍Pair
🔍Ventral
Small Concealer Moth
Philobota sp ES05


iNaturalist
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Similar Species: Purple-sheen Concealer Moth (Philobota ancylotoxa)
Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying and Dr Bevan Buirchell for helping with the id of this species for us

Philobota ancylotoxa looks very similar but has a wingspan of ~25mm.
These look quite dull, without any glossy/satiny sheen.
Given the flyscreen is ~1.25mm, this is much closer to 15mm wingspan.
We thought this was Isomoralla curriculata (which is very variable), but after much discussion we decided Axel was correct; primarily because pinned examples of Isomoralla curriculata don't have the dark costal band.
Imaged 7(1M,1F) in Aug(1), Sep(3), Oct(2:1M,1F) & Nov(1)
Profile
Streaked Concealer Moth
Phloeograptis obliquata


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us

~8mm long and ~18mm wingspan. Black streaked on beige/grey background. The underside of the palps are black.
While we often find Victorian & WA species not recorded on Atlas in SA before it's very unusual & surprising to find a predominantly a Qld species here. We have found a Qld fly, due to human factors; so wonder if similar factors have bought this species down to SA. Or if it's just rare here? It does seem pretty rare any way with only 12 sightings on Atlas.
Imaged 3 in Feb(1) & Sep(2)
Dorsal
Profile
Antennae & Legs
Ventral
Crawling Concealer Moth
Pilostibes serpta


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Mark Hura for identifying and Ian McMillan for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Jan
Dorsal
Bud Borer Moth
Stathmopoda sp


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dr Peter McQuillan for identifying this species for us

Imaged 1 in Jan
Dorsal
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Wingia Moth (:Gelechioidea Oecophoridae Wingia); 8 species, 5 from Ellura
Shadow Wingia Moth
Catacometes hemiscia


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Record in SA on Atlas:
~8mm long.
Imaged 3 in Jan(1), Mar(1) & Apr(1)
🔍Dorsal
Shaded Wingia Moth
Eochrois sp


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dr Peter McQuillan for identifying this species for us

Imaged 3 in Jan(1) & Feb(2)
🔍Profile
Rusty Wingia Moth
Euchaetis ANIC34
Na
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This is figured on Bold as Euchaetis sp ANIC34.
Head & body ~8mm, wingspan ~11mm.
A very attractive little moth, with pink edged, rust coloured wings. As is typical with Gelid moths, the palps are upturned finishing in a point.
The antennae are quite unusual; nearly invisible bipectinate, but more hairy rather than the normal twig like, visible structure.
Imaged 1 in Jun
Dorsal
Profile
Antennae
Ventral
Gall Wingia Moth
Euchaetis metallota
Na
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Head & body ~7.5mm, wingspan ~20mm; quite small compared to the 25mm stated elsewhere, but sizes can vary significantly with moths.
Caterpillars of this moth are found in Eucalypt stem galls.
It's hard to say if the pink highlights are artificial (due to flash), or an angle specific trait. Different photo's of the same specimen show high variations of this highlight colour.
The antennae of the male have very long, fine, nearly invisible pectination pairs (quad-pectinate) per segment.
A species complex with two known DNA different colonies, one in Perth, with the other on the East Cost. We don't know if this is a third, or belongs to one of the two mentioned.
Imaged 2(1M) in Apr(1) & Oct(1M)
Male, dorsal
Male, pink highlights
Male, profile
Male, anterior
Male, Hindwings
Male, ventral showing antenna
Pale Wingia Moth
Euchaetis sp ES01


iNaturalist
Na
m
Thank you Dr Peter McQuillan for identifying and Rog Standen for helping with the id of this species for us

We thought it was a Large Concealer (Ptyoptila matutinella).
Peter said "A reasonable fit is to the genus Euchaetis. These are robust oecophorids with the costa of the forewing often outlined in pinkish red and some pinkish tones on the forelegs. Some are rather plain but others are patterned. It looks like less than half the "species" are formally named."
Imaged 1 in Apr
🔍Dorsal
Anterior
Hollow Twig Wingia Moth
Hemibela hemicalypta


iNaturalist
Na
a
Thank you Ken Harris for identifying and Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Using a similar strategy to case moths, the caterpillars of this genera hollow out a twig and carry it around.
As you can see in the photo's they then pupate inside it. The twig is much smaller than the moth that emerges from it.
We found a hollow twig on a small grass tip (thought it was an insect) and realised it was a case glued to the grass, with the grass growing through it. A few days later we found another, thinking it was a case moth, with the end stuck to our poly rainwater tank. We put them in a container and couldn't believe what came out when they emerged.
Body ~7mm, wingspan ~17mm. The twigs are 11-12mm long, ~2mm outside diam & ~1.5mm inside diameter.
Imaged 1 in Nov
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Case, profile
Case, Sealed End
Case, After emerging
Ventral
White Wingia Moth
Ocystola sp


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~7mm long, wingspan ~19mm.
Imaged 2 in Sep
🔍Dorsal
Red-bodied Wingia Moth
Tortricopsis semijunctella


iNaturalist
Na
a
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body is ~10mm, with a wingspan of ~13mm.
Very red body, with pale orange highlights and hind-wings. The fore-wings are pale brown, darkening at the edges with red speckles in the trailing margin.
The red scales around the base of palps give this species a wedge-nosed appearance.
Imaged 1 in Nov
Dorsal
Profile
Hindwings
Face
Head
Hairy Leg
Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Boarmiini); 12 species, 11 from Ellura
Glorious Bark Moth
Cleora injectaria


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Matt Campbell for identifying this species for us

Matt said "I followed a lot of the lines on various RG sightings and while it appears to be highly variable, the spots are always in the same spot."
Imaged 2 in Jan
🔍Dorsal
Bark Moth
Cleora MoV3


iNaturalist
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying this species for us

Wingspan ~33mm, head & body length ~13mm.
This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 7 as Cleora sp. (3)
We thought this was Cleora displicata, but Marilyn said "more likely to be Cleora sp. (3) in MoV7. It's plainer and paler and has straighter lines than the other possibilities. Sp. (3) is a desert species."
The under-wing patterns are reminiscent of the red-line Geometrid; without the red-line. But the dorsal wing patterns are quite different.
Imaged 5(4M) in Jan(1M), Nov(2:1M) & Dec(2M)
S2, Male, dorsal
S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, profile
🔍S5, Male, Wing Tufts
S2, Male, anterior
S2, Male, Antenna
S2, Male, ventral
Thick-lined Bark Moth
Didymoctenia exsuperata


iNaturalist
Na
a
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Sep
Dorsal, ~35mm wingspan
Anterior
🔍Antenna
Palps
Palps & Shoulder
Ventral
Cryptic Bark Moth
Gastrinodes argoplaca


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Males ~12mm long, ~34mm wingspan
The hindwings mimic the forewings along the inner margin (body edge), with dark scalloping along the outer margin (trailing edge), but then fade to plain brown in the middle.
Imaged 4M in Mar(2M), Apr(1M) & Aug(1M)
🔍Male, dorsal, wings open
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, ventral
Undescribed Bark Moth
Gastrinodes MoV1


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~15mm Long with Wingspan ~42mm.
This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 7 as Gastrinodes sp (1).
Wingspan can be a subjective measurement. We measure the wing length + body width to arrive at our wingspans. eg here 19mm wing length x 2 + body with of 4mm. However, the natural wingspan here is 31mm, ie it's naturally sitting with it's wings open. That's a HUGE difference. Yet the wing span of dead specimens is measure with their wings fully outstretched; as they are "set" to show the hindwings. Plus the majority of moths don't sit with their wings open, naturally. Usually they are closed, with wings "wrapped" around the body. As such, to compare one species of moth to another, the "naturally" sitting wingspan is of little use. The individual wing lengths + body width meathod, should also compare favourably with those measurements of dead specimens with wings fully outstretched (which is where most official wing span measurements derive).
Imaged 7(6M) in Apr(4M), Jul(2:1M) & Oct(1M)
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Antenna & Thoracic Crest
🔍Male, ventral
Grey Bark Moth
Lipogya exprimataria


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymLarentia exprimataria

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~10mm long and wingspan of ~22mm.
Thanks to Axel Kallies for letting us know our S21 here (which we thought was Lipoya eutheta) is Lipogya exprimataria.
Imaged 33(28M,3F) in Jan(5:4M,1F), Feb(1M), Mar(1M), Apr(9:7M), May(2M), Jun(4M), Jul(3M), Sep(2:1M,1F), Oct(4:3M,1F), Nov(1M) & Dec(1M)
S1, Male, dorsal
S21, Female, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
S21, Female, profile
S21, Female, anterior
S21, Female, partial Hindwings
S21, Female, ventral
Tufted Bark Moth
Lipogya leucoprosopa


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm head & body length, with approx 22mm wingspan.
Most interesting with this species is the raised scale tufts behind the head. Almost impossible to see in dorsal view without a flash reflecting off them. The flash shows them to be metallic and a dark gold colour. In some views it appears to be a single horn, but elsewhere you can see it's two distinct tufts leaning toward each other. As the smaller scales wear down, the tufts become more visible.
Imaged 19(11M,8F) in Jan(5:2M,3F), Feb(1F), Mar(2F), Apr(3:1M,2F), Sep(3M), Oct(4M) & Nov(1M)
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, profile
S2, Male, profile closeup
S1, Male, anterior
S1, Male, Abdomen, dorsal
S1, Male, Partial Hindwing
S2, Male, ventral
Undescribed Bark Moth
Lipogya MoV1
Na
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for confirming the id of this species for us

This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 7 as Lipogya sp. (1), from 2011
It is also figured on Bold as Lipogya EF01, from 2012.
~11mm long & wingspan ~26mm.
Imaged 3 in Sep
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, Two Raised Scale Tufts
Dark Desert Bark Moth
Psilosticha loxoschema


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymEctropis loxoschema

Similar Species: Spider-mimicking Moth (Zermizinga sinuata)
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body is ~9mm long, with a wingspan of ~28mm.
Very similar wing patterns to our Spider-mimicking moth males, but the antennae are very different. Here they are weakly bipectinate, and the females are not flightless; looking like the males.
Imaged 11 in Jan(2), Mar(3), Apr(3), May(2) & Jul(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Dryland Bark Moth
Scioglyptis sp


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us

~10mm long & 28mm wingspan.
Males have very large bipectinate (2 rowed) antennae, where as the females have thin thread-like antennae.
We thought this was Scioglyptis loxographa, but Marilyn Hewish kindly advised otherwise. They are quite similar, and MoV (Moths of Victoria) Part 7 has excellent images of the diagnostic differences.
This is a worn specimen making id difficult.
Imaged 16(15M,1F) in Mar(9M) & Apr(7:6M,1F)
Male, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal
Male, underwing
🔍Male, ventral
Looper Moth
Syneora AH06


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymMiddletonia

Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

An undescribed species, but still included in the CSIRO database; the initials AH refer to Axel Hausmann.
Males have bi-pectinate antennae, females have filimorm.
Axel said "Clearly the same species, "Syneora" sp Ah06. However, I have no doubt that it is misplaced. I dont think it is even vaguely related to Syneora."
Imaged 19(17M,2F) in Jan(3M), Mar(4:3M,1F), Apr(2M), May(3:2M,1F), Sep(1M), Oct(5M) & Dec(1M)
S1, Male, dorsal, pale morph
S1, Hindwing, pale morph
S1, Perspecitve, with a hoverfly
S2, Male, dorsal, dark morph
S2, Anterior, dark morph
S2, Profile, dark morph
Spider-mimicking Moth
Zermizinga sinuata


iNaturalist
Na
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Other Common NameLucerne Looper

Similar Species: Dark Desert Bark Moth (Psilosticha loxoschema)
Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying, Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Karen Weaving for confirming and Dr Ken Walker for helping with the id of this species for us

The flightless females are ~8mm long, wingspan ~10mm; more grey on top, browner underneath. Unlike female clouded footmen, these do have wings. They are reduced and can't produce flight. When we first saw her the fore-wings were resting along the side as well as the hind-wings, but they stayed out the whole time we were photographing. At first we thought we saw a spider on the flyscreen, but were stunned to find it was a moth.
Males are quite variable in colour. Body & head length is up to ~10mm, wingspan up to ~30mm
We find the process of identification easier to start with a darker one and work back to the paler / worn specimens.
Males also have an unusual "scarf" around the neck, which was most evident on S7, which was also one of the paler specimens. The scarf stands up as the head is bent down.
A more technical term for reduced winged, flightless insects is "Brachypterous".
The males of these are very similar to Ectropis excursaria males. The antennae here seem to have longer pectinations. The females are easy to separate out as Ectropis females have wings.
Imaged 38(35M,2F) in Jan(3M), Mar(8M), Jun(5M), Jul(5:4M), Aug(1M), Sep(2M), Oct(4:2M,2F), Nov(7M) & Dec(3M)
S10, Fresh Male, dorsal
S9, Male, dorsal
S8, Male, dorsal
S7, Male, dorsal
S6, Male, dorsal
S5, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, antenna
S7, Male, anterior
S7, Male, scarf profile
S7, Male, scarf posterior
S10, Fresh Male, ventral
S1, Female, dorsal
S1, Female, anterior, under
S1, Female, Hindwings, profile
S1, Female, Hindwings, posterior
S1, Female, ventral
S2, Female, dorsal
S2, Female, dorsal (nb extended body)
S2, Female, profile
🔍S2, Female, profile
🔍S2, Female, anterior
S2, Female, antennae
S2, Female, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Lithinini); 2 species, none from Ellura
Bracken Moth
Idiodes apicata
Na
a
Imaged 1 in Dec
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Acute Point Moth
Unplaced biplaga
Na
a
SynonymsAzelina biplaga or Metrocampa biplaga

Interesting situation. It's been taken out of the taxon tree because someone believed it didn't belong where it was; but then didn't place it somewhere else. Currently under "Lithinini" on Atlas, and Azelina biplaga on iNaturalist.
Imaged 1 in Mar
Dorsal
Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Macariini); 3 species from Ellura
Flame Geometrid
Paramelora lychnota


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymParamelora ammophila

Thank you (LifeIsAmazing ) for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body ~11mm, wingspan ~14mm.
Males are obviously bipectinate (ie very long pectinations), while females are filiform and have a tendancy to loose antennae.
This species is very variable in both line shape and colour. Notice in S7 the dark line towards the back of the wing is much flatter than the other specimens. Similarly S8 appears almost hairy compared to the others. Looking at the DNA bin for this species on Bold, we can see that a number of different species (even Dichromodes) are found in this bin (ie so close to be considered one species). As such, the variation is extensive; far more than shown here. Atlas still shows P. ammophila as a species, yet no records for it. Perhaps the DNA work has thrown into question their placement and work needs to be done to properly understand what is going on.
Imaged 26(12M,14F) in Jan(1F), Feb(1F), Mar(3F), Apr(2F), May(2:1M,1F), Jun(4:3M,1F), Jul(4M), Aug(2M), Sep(2:1M,1F), Oct(2F), Nov(2:1M,1F) & Dec(1F)
🔍S1 Male, dorsal
S2 Male, dorsal
S3 Male, dorsal
S4 Male, dorsal
S6 Male, dorsal
S7 Male, dorsal - flatter line
S8 Male, dorsal - scruffy
🔍S9 Male, dorsal
S5 Female, dorsal
S10 Female, dorsal
S4 Male, profile
S9 Male, hindwing
🔍S6 Male, antenna
S3 Male, anterior
S3 Male, butterfly stance
S9 Male, scales
S2 Male, ventral
S6 Male, ventral
S10 Female, underwing
Dusky-barred Geometrid
Paramelora zophodesma
Na
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Head & body ~12mm, wingspan ~14mm. Male antennae are bipectinate, females filiform.
Like their close relations, the Flame Geometrid, these have small red flecks; individual scales that are red.
S2 has an unusual line which runs around most of the of the wing edges.
Imaged 2F in Oct
S1, Female, dorsal
S2, Female, dorsal
S2, Female, Hindwings
S2, Female, Underwing
Dodonaea Moth
Parosteodes fictiliaria


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

Head & body ~13mm, wingspan ~32mm.
A HIGHLY variable moth, making id for ameteurs like ourselves difficult. The MoV books have helped us immensely with separating these out from other unidentified Geometrids
Males have very finely bipectinate antennae, nearly invisible, which makes the antennae look thicker in males. As such, gender determination is very difficult with less than macro photography or a ventral view.
These are one of the few species where colour can change with age as a pinned specimen. Colour & pattern variations are not gender based.
Imaged 10(2M,4F) in Jan(2F), Feb(1F), Apr(1), May(1), Sep(4:2M,1F) & Nov(1)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S4, Male, dorsal
S5, Male, dorsal
S6, Female, dorsal
S7, dorsal
🔍S8, Female, dorsal
🔍S9, Female, profile
S4, Male, Hindwing
S6, Male, Hindwing
🔍S8, Female, Partial Hindwing
S4, Male, Antennae
S5, Male, Antennae
S6, Male, Antennae
S4, Male, ventral
S6, Male, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Ennominae Nacophorini); 39 species from Ellura
Orange-ribbed Cape-moth
Amelora ANIC17


iNaturalist
Na
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1st Live Photo on-line:
~25mm wingspan & ~10mm long. Males have bipectinate antennae, females have filiform antennae.
This is figured on Bold as Amelora sp ANIC17
An undescribed, yet known about, moth. All the mainland amelora need work and this may finish up under another genera when it's eventually described.
Found 2 on consecutive nights (females) late Mar & early Apr. The 2nd laid eggs in the pot, which were a little over 0.5mm in diameter.
Imaged 16(2F) in Apr
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S2, Female, Profile & Eggs
🔍S1, Female, Partial Hindwings
🔍S1, Female, ventral
Banded Cape-moth
Amelora ANIC6


iNaturalist
Na
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Similar Species: Broken-banded Cape-moth (Loweria platydesma)
Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~28mm wingspan & ~10mm long. Males have bipectinate antennae, females have filiform antennae.
This is figured on Bold as Amelora ANIC6
This is very similar to Rusty-banded Cape-moth (Amelora mesocapna), but notice the wing tips are rounded here. With A. mesocapna the wing tips are more pointed.
With many of the Amelora genera, there are very similar species with cross over in appearance. Plus they have not been described on the mainland. Other gerera are also very similar and worth looking at; Androchela, Furcatrox & Loweria (which in time will all be presented in this web-site). As such, many of the names here use "cf" to indicate it "looks like" but can't be sure of it's labelled identity.
Imaged 7(1M,6F) in Apr(3F) & May(4:1M,3F)
🔍S4, Female, dorsal
🔍S4, Female, profile
S1, Male, profile
S2, Female, hindwings
🔍S4, Female, anterior
Ribbon Cape-moth
Amelora belemnophora


iNaturalist
Na
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Similar Species: Peaked Cape-moth (Amelora cf ceraunia)
Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Specimens 3 & 4, shown here, are rather different. S4 is probably fresh, with little scale loss. Whereas S3 is quite worn. Regardless, S4 is a darker morph which also shows in the darker edging under both wings. S3 is also quite a bit smaller at ~10mm body & head length (~26mm wingspan), with S4 at ~12mm body & head length (~32mm wingspan). S7 is in-between and showed it's hindwing rather nicely. We present S3 & S4 fully to help show the normal variations you can see with moths within one species. In profile, you can see the missing scales of S3 make them look quite different.
Imaged 11(8M) in Apr(1M), May(8:6M) & Jun(2:1M)
S3, Male, dorsal
S3, Male, profile
S3, Male, anterior
S3, Male, partial hindwing
S3, Male, ventral
S4, Male, profile
S4, Male, dorsal, wings closed
S4, Male, dorsal, wings spread
S7, Male, partial hindwing
S4, Male, ventral
Peaked Cape-moth
Amelora cf ceraunia
Na
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Similar Species: Ribbon Cape-moth (Amelora belemnophora)
Head & body ~12mm, wingspan ~25mm.
Very similar to Ribbon Cape-moth (both the forewing lines & DNA on Bold). These also have a crest which isn't normal for Amelora.
It's possible these are just pale Ribbon Cape-moths, but they do seem to have a discal spot; hence our presumption they are different.
Imaged 8(7M,1F) in Apr(2:1M,1F), May(3M) & Jun(3M)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S4, dorsal
S5, dorsal
S6, dorsal
S1, Antenna
S2, Crest
S3, Hindwings
S3, Under-wings
S3, ventral
Crescent Cape-moth
Amelora idiomorpha


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~11m long & 27mm wingspan.
Males have bipectinate (2 rowed) antennae, where as females have thin thread-like antennae.
Imaged 1 in Apr
Female, dorsal
Female, no flash
Female, profle
Female, ventral
Gold-lined Cape-moth
Amelora MoV5


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 5 as Amelora sp. (5)
Imaged 17(14M,2F) in Apr(7:5M,1F) & May(10:9M,1F)
🔍Male, dorsal
Variable Cape-moth
Amelora MoV8
Na
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This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 5 as Amelora sp. (8)
Head & body ~10mm, wingspan ~31mm.
Males have bipectinate antennae (2 rows of filaments), while females (shown here) have thread-like antennae (filiform).
There is no horn projection on it's face.
The MoV books stress that mainland Amelora species need work and will probably be moved into new genera, as Dr Peter McQuillan did for Tasmanian in 1996.
Imaged 1F in Apr
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, Hindwing
Female, ventral
Orange-spotted Cape-moth
Amelora sp ES01
Na
e m
Common names with moths can often be important descriptors. Here we thought this was Pointed Cape-moth (Amelora demistis). However, the wings aren't pointed, ruling that species out.

NB: none of the identifications on this web site have been determined scientifically (ie by dissection). They are based on visual clues, which can be very missleading with invertebrates.
Imaged 5(4M,1F) in Mar(1M) & May(4:3M,1F)
S4, Male, dorsal
S5, Male, dorsal
S1, Female, dorsal
S3, Female, Hindwings
S3, Female, Body
Fine-veined Geometrid
Amphicrossa hemadelpha
Na
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Similar Species: Tufted Double-spot Moth (Epicyrtica cf MoV3)
Males & females have bipectinate (2 rowed) antennae; however the female antennae pectinations are so short they look filiform.
Above their shoulders are 2 rows of scales that form a crest. Behind there neck is a tuft of scales forming another crest. They seem to wear easily so these crests & tufts are often not easy to distinguish. The patterns also wear adding to our confusion.
Generally their forwings have a wing pattern that reminds us of an elongated/stylised map of Australia. They have varying amounts of white highlights outlining the black lines & streaks. The black lines also vary in intensity, and quantity; with usually 2 main ones forming the "map" and at times a 3rd in-between, with less occationally only one. They often have 2 brown patches, and other brown streaks and flecks confusing the patterns.
Their hindwings always have 2 dark discal spots underneath (which isn't visible above), but can have more forming a jagged line towards the outer margin (which is visible above and below).
Their hindwing outer margins are also mildly scalloped, with the forewings less so.
With this amount of variation it always concerns us we have different species. Without disecion we can't be certain, but on balance and a lot of consideration we think these are all one and the same.
These are also a surprise for us, as they're very common in Autumn here, but rare on-line.
Imaged 47(38M,7F) in Apr(5M), May(24:19M,4F), Jun(17:14M,3F) & Oct(1)
S2,Male,dorsal
S3,Male,dorsal
S8,Male,dorsal
S10,Male,dorsal
S11,Male,dorsal
S12,Male,dorsal
S15,Male,dorsal
S16,Male,dorsal
S21,Male,dorsal
S8,Male,profile
S11,Male,profile
S16,Male,profile
S19,Male,profile
S27,Male,profile
S39,Male,profile
S5,Male,Hindwing
S27,Male,Hindwing
S11,Male,ventral
S16,Male,ventral
S27,Male,ventral
S33,Female,dorsal
S24,Female,profile
S24,Female,Antennae
S7,Female,Hindwing
S7,Female,ventral
Four-spot Cape-moth
Androchela milvaria


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymAmelora milvaria

Thank you Ned Fisher for confirming and Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us

Males have bipectinate (2 rowed) antennae, females have filiform.
The 2 lateral lines are made up of spots, that are joined with dark shading. Between the lines also tends to be a darker band. As the name suggests, there is a large central black spot on all four wings.
Imaged 2M in May
S1, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
S1, Male, anterior
S1, Male, ventral
Pale-bordered Cape-moth
Authaemon stenonipha


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 4(1F) in Apr
🔍Dorsal
White-winged Wedge-moth
Capusa cf cuculloides


iNaturalist
Na
e m f
Head & body ~18mm, wingspan ~32mm.
The lack of black on the trailing edge of the hind wing means this isn't C. senilis
Imaged 2(1F,1J) in Jun(1F) & Sep(1J)
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, anterior
Female, ventral
Grey Crest-moth
Chlenias banksiaria
Na
e m
Head & body ~15mm, wingspan ~43mm.
This is a species complex; meaning there are different species in the group that match the known diagnositcs. A revision of the species needs to be done to determine new diagnostics to split the group into separate species.
Both genders have bipectinate antennae, however the pectinations are tiny on the female looking like filiform antennae to the naked eye, or the wrong angle.
Imaged 1F in May
Female, dorsal
Female, dorsal
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, anterior
Female, hindwing
Female, underwings
Female, ventral
Black-banded Crest-moth
Chlenias stenosticha


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Cathy Powers & Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us

~36mm wingspan, ~14mm long.
The black blotches on it's forewings are more obvious to the naked eye.
The sharply pointed, forward facing, thoracis crest can be receded by the moth at will. Possibly a defense mechanism to make it appear more aggressive or larger?
Gender can be differentiated by their antennae, with females being thread-like (filiform) & males being shortly bipectinate.
Imaged 26(13M,9F) in May(3:2M,1F), Jun(17:8M,7F) & Jul(6:3M,1F)
S3, Male, dorsal, wings spread
S3, Male, dorsal, wings wrapped
S3, Male, profile
S3, Male, Head
S3, Male, Partial Body
S3, Male, Mane Receded
S3, Male, ventral
S1, Male, dorsal
S2, Female, dorsal, wings spread
S2, Female, profile, wings wrapped
S2, Female, anterior
S2, Female, partial body
S2, Female, ventral
Forked Grass-moth
Ciampa arietaria


iNaturalist
Na
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Other Common NamesBrown Pasture Looper or Forked Pasture-moth

Thank you Anthony Paul & Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

A common moth which has some unique characteristics.
The larva curl up at the base of plants looking like new, unfurled leaves.
The adults have a forked horn projection out the front of it's head. It's hairless and not part of the palps; a separate structure.
Males & females have bipectinate (2 rowed) antennae. The male pectinations are very long, while the female's are very short.
Imaged 26(7M,12F,4J) in Mar(3:1M,2F), Apr(14:2M,10F,1E), May(5:4M), Jul(1J) & Aug(3J)
Larva 1, dorsal, ~18mm
Larva 1, profile
Larva 1, rear End
Larva 1, eyes & legs
Larva 1, ventral
Larva 2, camoflague, ~12mm
Larva 3, dorsal, ~22mm
Larva 3, posterior
Larva 3, back pattern
Larva 3, eyes
Male, dorsal, ~15mm
Male, hind wings
Male, posterior
Male, Body
Male, Antenna & Horn
Male, Horn + Palp are separate
Male, Horn
Male, Wings
Male, Wings up
Male, Wings wrapped
Male, anterior
Male, Forewing
Male, ventral
Male, ventral (note the Horn)
🔍Female, profile
Female, antennae
Female, ventral
White-lined Grass-moth
Ciampa heteromorpha
Na
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Other Common NameWhite-lined Pasture-moth

Head & body ~12mm, wingspan ~28mm.
Note that, like the related Forked Grass-moth, this species also has a facial horn; diamond shaped.
As with others in the genus, both genders have bipectinate (2 rowed) antennae, where the males pectinations are long & the females are short.
Imaged 1M in Apr
Male, dorsal
Male, Horn
Male, ventral
Black-twisted Grass-moth
Ciampa melanostrepta


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Notice these have a small knobbly horn. Males & females have bipectinate antennae, with the males having very long pectinations.
Imaged 2F in May
Female, partial Hindwing
Ash-grey Geometrid
Corula geometroides


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymLathraeolis spodochroa

Similar Species: Stippled Line-moth (Smyriodes trigramma)
Thank you Ralph Foster, Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 2 in Apr & Aug.
Imaged 2M in Apr(1M) & Aug(1M)
Male
Black-edged Geometrid
Cycloprorodes melanoxysta


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Andy Young & Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Photo on Atlas
1st Sighting in SA since 1891:

Male ~14mm long & ~35mm wingspan. Female ~12mm long & ~35mm wingspan. So similar size, with females have a shorter stout body.
Males & females are both bipectinate, however, the male pectinations are noticably long than the females.
Note the colour variation from rust red, through orange to pale brown. This is not gender specific, just individual variation. All these were photographed at Ellura, so it's also independant of location.
Imaged 9(3M,5F) in May(5:1M,4F) & Jun(4:2M,1F)
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, dorsal
🔍S6, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, profile
🔍S6, Male, profile
🔍S2, Male, ventral
🔍S3, Female, ventral
Dry-country Line-moth
Dysbatus sp


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Axel Kallies & Craig Polkinghorne for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long.
Bipectinate antennae, with the females having smaller pectinations than the males.
We thought this was Dysbatus singularis, but Axel said "This is an undescribed species, also common in NW Victoria"
Imaged 2(1F) in Jan
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Female, profile
🔍Female, ventral
Orange-hooded Crest-moth
Fisera eribola


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Stephen Fricker for confirming the id of this species for us

~17mm long, ~46mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate anetennae, females have filiform antennae.
Imaged 3M in Apr
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, profile
🔍S1, Male, profile
🔍S4, Male, Hindwings
🔍S1, Male, crest, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, anterior
🔍S1, Male, Antenna
🔍S1, Male, ventral
Russet Crest-moth
Fisera MoV2


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Craig Polkinghorne for confirming the id of this species for us

This is figured in Moths of Victoria part 5 as Fisera sp. (2)
The hindwings trail with a dirty purple band underneath.
A brown speckled cream body.
Males have bipectinate antennae (2 rows of filaments), while females (shown here) have thread-like antennae (filiform).
The front legs are brown, while the rear 4 are white.
A fairly large moth with a wingspan of ~50mm and body & head length of ~16mm
Imaged 10(4M,3F) in Apr(1M), May(8:2M,3F) & Jun(1M)
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, Antenna
Female, Horn
Female, under Hindwings
Female, ventral
Pale Crest-moth
Fisera phricotypa


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

~15mm long, ~45mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate anetennae, females have filiform antennae.
Note the black line on the edge of the thoracic crest. Not all have the dark zig-zag line on the forewings.
Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Apr
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Female, profile
🔍Male, profile
🔍Female, Hindwing
🔍Female, ventral
🔍Male, ventral
Maroon-spot Cape-moth
Furcatrox serrula
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Head & body ~11mm, wingspan ~28mm.
Males have bipectinate antennae (2 rows of filaments), while females (shown here) have thread-like antennae (filiform).
We have been surprised to discover so many Geomotrids with horns on their faces; which can be diagnostic. This one looked like it had a horn but on closer inspection looks like scales associated with the palps; we can't be sure as we are looking at things so small they are on the limits of our camera resolution.
Photograped 1 female in Apr (which may be significant as the MoV records indicate January). Also MoV indicates NSW, Vic & Tas distribution (wet regions), so perhaps we have this wrong?
Imaged 1F in Apr
Dorsal
Profile
Face
Palp scales
Ventral
Frosty Cape-moth
Hypsitropha ANIC1


iNaturalist
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Thank you Glenn Cocking for identifying, Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming and Peter Marriott & Matt Campbell for helping with the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~25mm wingspan. Males have thinner body & bipectinate antennae. Females have filiform antennae.
They have a very distinctive. Top of body is pale orange/brown which is a bit unusual.
There are 4 specimens shown on bold, all of which were found on the 30th Apr 1968. As such, they are rarely seen, or not well known and not recognised in collections. It's also possible they have a very short adult life. We've only seen them on one night in a season, and if not looking on that night they'd be missed.
Imaged 15(9M,4F) in Apr(14:9M,4F) & May(1)
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Male, Hindwings
🔍Female, Anetenna
🔍Male, ventral
🔍Female, ventral
Brown-marbled Geometrid
Lophosticha psorallodes
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying this species for us

While we got to genus with these, we couldn't quite assign the correct species. When Marilyn kindly id'ed them for us she said "S6 is obvious. The others are trickier." In her determination she used the marbled background on the forewings (plain with distinct fine lines in S1), the line shapes and the distinctly banded cilia, dark-brown and white.
As a general mothing guide; she also said "wing shape, size and the antennae" need to match. "Forewing cilia, thorax markings, hindwing, underside, can be helpful". Once these are in place, Ted Edwards of the ANIC told her "Follow the lines." By this he means "Trace the shape of each line." Marilyn notes in MoV5, colour forms are not gender based.
"Cilia" refers to the trailing forewing scales (along the termen).
These moths are ~12mm long, with wingspan of ~32mm. The males & females we measured are about the same size. Males have bipectinate antennae; female's are filiform. The hard-to-see upper body is brown (nearly orange) striped. Hindwings are white with an indistinct fuscous trailing band. NB: the scalloped edge (termen) of the hindwing. Ventrally, the body white with dark flecks and a slight ochre tinge darkening toward the posterior. Under the hindwing, there is a vague dark line preceding the terminal dark edge. There also seems to be an ochre patch or line under the forewing (we only managed to see the edge of it).
Imaged 11(7M,2F) in Apr(3:2M), May(7:4M,2F) & Jun(1M)
S1, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, dorsal
S3, Dorsal
S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, dorsal
S6, Female, dorsal, tent
S6, Female, dorsal, spread
🔍S7, Female, dorsal
S4, Male, profile
S6, Female, profile
S7, Female, anterior Crest
🔍S6, Female, raised Scales
S6, close up of raised Scales
S6, ochre patch under forewing
S6, Female, Hindwings
S4, Male, ventral
S6, Female, ventral
Smoke-spotted Cape-moth
Loweria capnosticta
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While it's not very obvious, Loweria sp have a square horn projecting out the front of it's head. This horn is often covered in hairy scales from above, and is best seen ventrally (if you are looking for it).
Imaged 15(13M,1F) in Apr(5M), May(9:8M,1F) & Jun(1)
Male, dorsal
Female, dorsal
Black-spotted Cape-moth
Loweria haplochroa


iNaturalist
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Thank you Malki (The_Naturalist) for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
1st for SA on Atlas:

~13mm long & ~28mm wingspan. Males with Bipectinate Antennae
Notice Loweria frons has the square horn.
Small black spotting mainly on the costa. Orange flecks forming 2 indistinct lines. 2 Sold black spots on forwings. We didn't see hindwings, but ventrally indications there are 2 spots there as well, possibly more faded.
Very similar to Smoke-spotted Cape-moth (Loweria capnosticta) which we also get. However, this has more small black spotting all the forewings. MoV says Loweria capnosticta is also similar to Loweria tephrochroa. We may get that one as well, but haven't recognised them.
Notice the thoracic crest. We see this alot in species that aren't supposed to have one and surmise it's associated with putting the specimens in the fridge to cool down to keep still while we photograph them b4 release.
Imaged 1M in Apr
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Horn
🔍Male, Horn
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Male, ventral
Broken-banded Cape-moth
Loweria platydesma


iNaturalist
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Similar Species: Banded Cape-moth (Amelora ANIC6)
Thank you Rog Standen for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long & ~26mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, females have filiform antennae.
The facial horn shown here separates these from Amelora. It can be hard to see dorsally as it's often covered in scales. In profile it's still difficult as it's small & thin. But ventrally, it's much clearer.
Imaged 21(19M,1F) in Apr(13:12M,1F), May(6:5M) & Jun(2M)
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S18, Male, dorsal
🔍S18, Male, profile
🔍S18, Male, Horn, dorsal
🔍S18, Male, Horn, ventral
🔍S18, Male, ventral
Fine-lined Cape-moth
Loweria stenoscia


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
A variable species with thin orange longitudinal marks that form a horizontal line; sometimes with a dark spot on the forewing
Imaged 15(11M,3F) in Apr(6:4M,1F), May(8:6M,2F) & Jun(1M)
S1, Dorsal, dark morph
S2, Dorsal, pale morph
S3, Hind wing, dark morph
Arid Gum Moth
Mnesampela arida


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

A rarely recorded largish moth.
The males are smaller than the females and have bipectinate antennae; compared with females having filiform. The male we measured was ~13mm long, ~38mm wingspan. The female was ~15mm long & ~44mm wingspan
The black & white thoracic crest differentiates these from other Mnesampela species.
They have a beige hindwing bleeding to plum coloured towards the trailing half. Their forwings are a dapled mustard colour that mimics a drying gum leaf perfectly. There are even raised scales scattered across the wing that mimic the blisters in the surface of drying gum leaves.
There is a faint/indistinct wavy rust coloured line across the middle of the forewing.
Imaged 7(4M,2F) in Apr
🔍S1 Female, dorsal
🔍S2 Female, dorsal
🔍S3 Male, dorsal
🔍S4 Male, dorsal, wings open
🔍S4 Male, dorsal, tent pose
🔍S4 Male, profile
🔍S4 Male, Antenna
🔍S1 Female, Forewing
🔍S1 Female, Hindwing
🔍S1 Female, Partial Hindwing
🔍S1 Female, ventral
🔍S4 Male, ventral
Serrated Crest-moth
Nisista serrata
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Head & body ~15mm, wingspan ~34mm.
Males & females have bipectinate antennae (2 rows of filaments), with males having longer pectinations as shown here.
Imaged 1 in Aug
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, Hingwing
Male, ventral
Black & White Crest-moth
Paralaea atralba


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameBlack and White Crest-moth

Imaged 5M in Apr(2M) & May(3M)
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Hindwings
Red-tracked Geometrid
Plesiolaea maritima


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Don Herbison-Evans, Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Axel Kallies, Ben Kurek & Craig Polkinghorne for confirming the id of this species for us

~11mm long & wingspan 28mm.
The female has 3 very distinctive red streaks (2 lateral & one diagonal) on a grey dapled background.
It has a small tuft on each side above the head, and 2 black spots under it's hind wings.
It tends to sit with it's wings wrapped around it's body like a cylinder, but can sit with it's wings out flat.
It plays dead easily making photography of it's underneath nearly impossible.
Thanks to Don Herbison-Evan for confirming our 2nd specimen is the male of this species, based on the forewing tip markings

Imaged 7(1M,5F) in Apr
Male, dorsal
Female, dorsal
Female, dorsal
🔍Female, dorsal
Male, profile
Female, profile
🔍Female, profile
Male, anterior
Female, anterior
Male, Body
🔍Female, Tufts
Male, ventral
Female, ventral
Stippled Line-moth
Smyriodes trigramma
Na
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Similar Species: Ash-grey Geometrid (Corula geometroides)
Head & body ~13mm, wingspan ~35mm.
Males have bipectinate antennae, females have filiform.
There are brown & grey forms, with the black lines varying considerably in strength. They are not easy to photograph, with different angles giving quite different colours.
Identification difficulty is compounded as they wrap themselves with their wings, looking very different to their spread out state - making the indiscriminate lines difficult to follow.
Imaged 10(5M,5F) in Apr(2:1M,1F), May(5:3M,2F) & Jun(3:1M,2F)
S1 Male, dorsal
S5 Male, dorsal
S3 Female, dorsal
S4 Female, dorsal
S8 Female, dorsal
S4 Female, profile
S8 Female, anterior
S5 Male, ventral
S4 Female, ventral
S8 Female, ventral
Foolish Line-moth
Stibaroma aphronesa


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

~16mm long, ~33mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, while females have filiform antennae.
We originally though this was Stibaroma melanotoxa.
We have posted a number of individuals here to show how much this species can vary.
Imaged 22(11M,9F) in Mar(3M), Apr(12:6M,5F) & May(7:2M,4F)
S1, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, dorsal
🔍S8, Male, dorsal
🔍S9, Male, dorsal
🔍S13, Female, dorsal
🔍S14, Female, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, profile
🔍S8, Male, profile
🔍S9, Male, profile
🔍S13, Female, profile
S2, Male, partial Hindwings
🔍S5, Male, Hindwing
🔍S9, Male, Hindwing
🔍S13, Female, Hindwing
🔍S14, Female, Hindwing
S2, Male, Body
🔍S8, Male, Antenna
🔍S9, Male, Antenna
🔍S9, Male, ventral
Dark Line-moth
Stibaroma sp ES01


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Axel said "I am sure it is a different species, found it also in large numbers in NW Victoria"
Imaged 1F in Mar
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S1, Female, Hindwing
Angled Satin Moth
Thalaina angulosa


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameBlotched Satin Moth

Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

~16mm long & ~40mm wingspan.
Genders are very similar and difficult to separate in the field. Getting a detailed shot of the antennae shows the male with bipectinate antennae; having short pectinations. The female antennae is filiform, but hairing underneath.
Imaged 12(6M,3F) in Apr(8:4M,1F) & May(4:2M,2F)
🔍Female, dorsal
Female, profile
🔍Male, Hind Wings
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Female, Antenna
Male, Head
🔍Male, ventral
Grey & White Satin Moth
Thalaina kimba


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameGrey and White Satin Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Female ~45mm wingspan, ~16mm long. Females & males both have filiform antennae, so have to determine gender from body shape.
Found this BEHIND the bottom of the night sheet. It's nose and a tiny bit of it's front wings (costa) was showing. Almost didn't see it! How lucky was that!
Imaged 1F in Apr
🔍Female, dorsal, wings open
🔍Female, dorsal, wings closed
🔍Female, profile
🔍Female, Horn
🔍Female, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Geometrinae); 8 species, 7 from Ellura
Red-lined Geometer
Crypsiphona ocultaria


iNaturalist
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Other Common NamesRed-lined Geometrid or Redlined Looper Moth

Thank you Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

~40mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, reducing to filiform about 3/4s along. Females have fully filiform antennae.
They have a thick black stripe running through their face, that generally goes unnoticed. But when it's pointed out becomes very obvious.
When on a window, with a lite backdrop, their underwing patterns show through.
Their dorsal patterns/black lines can be very weak. A number of specimens are shown here to show the variation.
Their ventral patterns are what they are named after, with red lines and black blotches that need to be seen to be appreciated.
Imaged 9(6M,2F) in Mar(1M), Apr(4:3M,1F), May(2:1M,1F), Oct(1) & Nov(1M)
Male, dorsal
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal & Antenna
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Female, Black Face Strip
🔍Male, dorsal, Back-lit
Male, Outside, ventral
🔍Male, ventral
🔍Female, ventral
Emerald Moth
Euloxia ochthaula
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

Males have bipectinate antennae, females like here have filiform antennae.
Imaged 1 in May
Female, dorsal
Undescribed Grey
Hypobapta ANIC2


iNaturalist
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Thank you Dominic Funnell for identifying this species for us

~16mm long and ~37mm to ~43mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, while females have filiform.
We thought this was Hypobapta percomptaria.
The line at the front of the wing is in a slightly different place, and the scalloping on the trailing edge of the wings is not as deep here.
Dominic id'ed S6 for us, we extended that id to our other 5, including S3 here.
Imaged 6M in Apr(5M) & May(1M)
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S6, Male, dorsal
🔍S6, Male, Hindwing
🔍S3, Male, anterior
🔍S3, Male, Antenna
🔍S3, Male, ventral
🔍S6, Male, ventral
Arid Grey
Hypobapta ANIC3
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This is figured on Bold as Hypobapta ANIC3
Yet another undescribed species that is known. So annoying for such a magnificent species.
This species varies considerably from most other Hypobapta as the black lines are straighter and angled to the back more. This one also sat with it's forewings almost closed, where as others seem to rest with them fully spread out.
As you can probably tell, our usual ventral shot failed miserably so used a couple of under shots with different views to try to show the underneath wing & body colours. Will update if we find another.
Imaged 1 in Dec
Dorsal
Profile
Hindwings
Anterior
Posterior
Released
Hanging on
Ventral
Barnard's Grey
Hypobapta barnardi


iNaturalist
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Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

The males were considerably smaller (~12mm long, wingspan ~29mm) than the female @ ~14mm long, wingspan ~37mm. Males are bipectinate, females filiform.
We were excited to get a named Grey, to compare with our undescribed one earlier. These still sat with the wings closed generally. Interestingly they were very flighty, until on the last one (S4) we put it on a small stick. It suddenly settled right down, and wrapped it's wings around the stick. We have found this with other inverts, particularly crane flies, where they cann't grip to the plastic surfaces; but haven't noticed an issue with moths before this one.
Imaged 9(6M,1F) in Jan(3M), Oct(2) & Nov(4:3M,1F)
S1, Male, dorsal, missing antennae
S2, Male, dorsal
S3, Female, dorsal
S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Male, dorsal
S3, Female, profile
S4, Male, profile
S1, Male, Hindwings
S3, Female, Hindwing
S1, Male, anterior
S4, Male, anterior
S4, Male, Wrapped
S2, Male, underwings
S1, Male, ventral
S3, Female, ventral
Grey
Hypobapta diffundens


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you David Muirhead & Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 male in Nov.
Imaged 1M in Nov
🔍Male, dorsal
Gum Emerald Moth
Prasinocyma semicrocea


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

Males have bipectinate antennae, females like here have filiform antennae.
Imaged 1M in Oct
🔍S1, Male
Webbed Grey
Rhuma argyraspis
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Similar Species: Tufted Double-spot Moth (Epicyrtica cf MoV3)
~14mm long, wingspan ~29mm. Male antennae are bipectinate, females filiform.
It took a long time to id this one (hours) because we thought it was a type of double spot (albeit with no spots
, which is in a totally different family. Only when we went to the geometrids as a last resort did we find it.
Imaged 1 in Nov
Male, dorsal
Male, profile, note the Tufts
Male, Hindwing
Male, underwings
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Larentiinae); 12 species, 11 from Ellura
Insigillated Carpet Moth
Chloroclystis insigillata


iNaturalist
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SynonymSigilliclystis insigillata

Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body ~7mm, wingspan ~20mm. Males have obvious deformations covered in scale tufts on the forwing costa (leading edge). The deformations are also visible underneath. Both males & females have filiform antennae.
Imaged 3(1M,1F) in May(1M), Jul(1) & Aug(1F)
Male, dorsal
Female, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, Wing tuft
Male, ventral
Sharp-angled Carpet Moth
Chrysolarentia actinipha


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Apr
🔍Dorsal
Gypsum Carpet Moth
Chrysolarentia gypsomela
Na
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~8mm long & 23mm wingspan.
So far we have only found females. Males are very similar but have thicker antennae
Imaged 9(2M,3F) in Apr(8:2M,3F) & May(1)
S1, dorsal
S2, Partial Hindwings
S3, dorsal
S1, underwing
S2, profile
S3, profile
S2, ventral
S3, ventral
Undescribed Carpet Moth
Chrysolarentia sp ES01


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us

The females we measured were slightly larger @ ~19mm (S2) & ~20mm (S3) wingspan compared to the male @ ~17mm (S4) wingspan.
Males have thick antennae compared with females, but it's not very obvious.
There are a few similar looking moths that are quite variable; C. arachnitis, C. severata & C. squamulata. We thought these were C. severata, but Axel lifted our id to genus level.
The lines on these are straighter than the others.
Imaged 6(2M,2F) in Mar(1F) & Apr(5:2M,1F)
🔍S2, Female, dorsal
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, dorsal
🔍S4, Male, dorsal
🔍S4, Male, Antenna
🔍S3, Female, dorsal
🔍S4, Male, dorsal
Red-spotted Delicate
Epicyme rubropunctaria


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Dec
Subidaria Moth
Epyaxa subidaria
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Head & body ~9mm, wingspan ~12mm.
Males have very obvious bipectinate antennae, where as females are filiform.
This genus has 2 distinct forms, one where the whole wing is patterned normally and the other (like this one) where the wing only appears to have half a pattern. It makes it look as though it has 6 wings instead of 4! Very similar to E. sodaliata, but the MoV books tell us the angle of the widest band here is not 90 degrees as in E. sodaliata.
Imaged 3 in Sep(2) & Dec(1)
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, partial Hindwings
Male, ventral
Scotodes Carpet
Eucymatoge scotodes


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying and Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long & ~28mm wingspan.
The lighting has been bumped up to the wazzoo to highlight the lines/patterns/colours. Otherwise it would just appear like a black moth, not very diagnostic. While not actually black, it's very dark. As such, several similar shots showing different perspectives; lighting, wing placement & focus.
These are all of the same specimen. It's quite worn, with a lot of missing scales over the wing. The hindwings are also damaged/missing pieces at the posterior.
We originally thought this was Horisme mortuata.
Imaged 1 in Mar
🔍Dorsal, as found on the wall (darker)
🔍Dorsal, bightened
🔍Dorsal, Hindwings
🔍Dorsal, on light showing wing outlines
🔍Profile
🔍Anterior
🔍Ventral
Grey Carpet Moth
Hypycnopa delotis
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Head & body ~7mm, wingspan ~18mm.
Males have bipectinate antennae (2 rows of filaments), with very long pectinations, while females have thread-like antennae (filiform).
Males also have a pale yellow patch on the hindwing, which is difficult to see with live specimens.
Imaged 3(2M,1F) in Apr(1M) & May(2:1M,1F)
Male, dorsal
Male, Hindwing Patch
Male, Ventral
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, ventral
Pome Looper Moth
Pasiphilodes testulata


iNaturalist
Na
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SynonymChloroclystis testulata

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 2 in Aug(1) & Oct(1)
🔍Dorsal, wingspan ~23mm
Profile
🔍Anterior
Palps, profile
Palps, dorsal
Ventral
Wattle Looper
Phrissogonus laticostata


iNaturalist
Na
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Other Common NameApple Looper

Thank you Karen Weaving & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~7mm body & head, ~20mm wingspan
Males are easily identified by the costal wing tufts (tufts on the front of the open wing).
Both males & females have very scaloped bodies when viewed in profile. It helps confirm female id, but makes it hard to get dorsal shots fully in focus as the body is considerably higher than the wings.
They often sit upside down; some photo's here have been rotated to make it easier to compare with other moths.
Some moths, like this can be quite variable. It's unusual for us to find green colours on anything at Ellura, however, specimen 9 was the only one found at Ellura with some green in it; compared with Adelaide Hills specimens we found.
NB: the very different body shapes between the 2 male ventral shots. Normally we would consider this a sign of gender variation, but it just goes to show you have to be careful of what one assumes. We have seen similar bloating in moths that have been drowning in puddles, etc.
Imaged 21(12M,8F) in Jan(2M), Feb(2M), Apr(1M), Aug(1F), Sep(4:3F), Oct(7:4M,3F), Nov(1F) & Dec(3M)
S4, Male, dorsal, partial Hindwing
S8, Male, dorsal
S9, Male, dorsal
S8, Male, profile
S9, Male, profile, showing green
S4, Male, costal tuft
S4, Male, ventral
S8, Male, ventral
S2, Female, dorsal
S6, Female, dorsal, deformed
S2, Female, profile
S2, Female, inner margin tufts
Tan Carpet Moth
Unplaced cryeropa


iNaturalist
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SynonymsChrysolarentia cryeropa or Hydriomena cryeropa

Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Not recognised on Atlas anymore, they seem to be unplaced in the Hydriomenini tribe.
An unusal species for a moth in that they often hold their wings vertically; perhaps when walking or threatened. It was difficult to get the dorsal shots with the wings held out flat.
The hindwings are a paler copy of the forewings near the trailing & inner margins, fading to plain grey/brown in the middle.
~9mm long, wingspan ~24mm.
Imaged 13 in Aug(1), Sep(11) & Oct(1)
S1, Dorsal
S2, Dorsal
S3, Dorsal
S5, Dorsal
S6, Dorsal
S4, Profile
S1, Wings held vertically
S4, Wings held vertically
S6, Wings held vertically
S6, Antennae
S4, Partial Hindwing
S3, Ventral
Vacuaria Carpet Moth
Xanthorhoe vacuaria


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 7(4M,1F) in Apr(5:4M) & May(2:1F)
Female
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Oenochrominae); 17 species, 16 from Ellura
Streaked Heath Moth
Aglossophanes pachygramma


iNaturalist
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Thank you Matt Campbell & Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~8mm (head & body) & ~20mm wingspan
Males have mildly bipectinate antennae, females are filiform (thread like).
The hindwing can be plain or have paler lateral stripe matching the forewing. Of the few images available on-line, it appears the females have more of a hindwing stripe than males.
Imaged 8(5M,3F) in Mar(7:5M,2F) & Sep(1F)
Male, dorsal
🔍Female, dorsal
Male, profile
Female, partial hindwing
🔍Female, antennae
🔍Male, antennae
Male, ventral
🔍Female, ventral
Pink Arhodia
Arhodia lasiocamparia


iNaturalist
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Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

~17mm long for both genders. Males have large bipectinate antennae, while female's are filiform.
Peter McQuillan said "Is a complex of multiple species yet to be resolved".
Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Feb(1F) & Nov(1M)
🔍S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S2, Female, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, Antennae out, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, profile
🔍S2, Female, profile
🔍S1, Male, Hindwing
🔍S2, Female, Hindwing
🔍S1, Male, anterior
🔍S2, Female, anterior
🔍S2, Female, ventral
Off-marked Heath Moth
Dichromodes AH10


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~22 to ~25mm wingspan.
An undescribed species published on Bold. "AH" stands for Axel Hausmann.
All Dichromodes males have uni-pectinate antennae while females have filiform.
Imaged 11(3M,5F) in Sep(2:1M,1F), Oct(3:1M), Nov(2F) & Dec(4:1M,2F)
🔍S8, Male
🔍S9, Female
Banded Heath Moth
Dichromodes aristadelpha


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

We thought these were the same as Dichromodes MoV4, but Axel suggests these are different & very close to D. compsotis. We then found D. aristadelpha and suggested it as a possibility and Axel said "compsotis and aristadelpha are similar for sure".
Later Axel said "I just had another look at the ANIC and BOLD data. Based on that, compsodes and aristadelpha are sister species, one in the west only and one in the west and east. So, perhaps aristadelpha is the name to use for the moment. But I am not sure this is set in stone ..."
Imaged 3M in Nov
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S2, profile
Laced Grey Heath Moth
Dichromodes cf sp ES02
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Thank you Peter Marriott for helping with the id of this species for us

We feel it is important to post specimens here that aren't described; at least people can stop looking. While Peter isn't sure what this one is, he's inclined to think it's Dichromodes. He said Taxeotis was also a possibility, however it's resting position fitted Dichromodes better. Dichromodes males have unipectinate antennae. If a Taxeotis, the males will have filiform antennae like the female here. We can see this is a female due to body shape.
Head & body ~9mm, wingspan ~25mm.
We find these snippets of diagnostic information so important to the identification of moths. Size, wing & body shape, antennae style, flight times, crests, horns, tufts, stance & wing resting postion. It's easy to rely on forewing patterns too much (we do!). With specimens like this the patterns are not as easily discernable. Then of course there are hindwing patterns (normally obscured, we didn't photograph here) and ventral wing patterns; requiring a crystal glass to photograph clearly.
The forewing pattern here looks a very close match to Chlenomorpha sciogramma, however, the shape of the wing doesn't match. The costal margin (leading wing edge) has a slight inward curve and the trailing edge (outer margin) is nearly straight compared with C. sciogramma. The lace pattern of the trailing scales on the forewings (termen) doesn't fit either, but Peter said this pattern is seen on other Dichromodes.
Imaged 9(2M,4F) in Sep(1F), Oct(3:1F) & Nov(5:2M,2F)
Female, dorsal
Female, laced termen
Female, head
Female, ventral
Black Heath Moth
Dichromodes MoV4


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 4 as Dichromodes sp (4).
Axel said "These things are pretty close to D. partitaria, but I am not sure one should use the name at this stage".
Imaged 14(9M,5F) in Mar(3:2M,1F), Apr(1F), Oct(2M), Nov(7:5M,2F) & Dec(1F)
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S5, Female, dorsal
🔍S11, Female, dorsal
🔍S12, Male, dorsal
🔍S14, Female, dorsal
🔍S11, Female, Hindwings
🔍S3, Male, ventral
Dark Leaf Moth
Monoctenia smerintharia


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

A fairly large moth at ~28mm long & 60mm wingspan.
While they can have dark stripes (and/or patches) & vary from russet red to grey, ours didn't have any stripes. It appears the specimens with heavier striping are female.
Note the unusual wing shape with a scaloped outer margin (trailing edge) and shaped more like a Ghost moth (Hepialoidea) than most geometrids.
Male antennae are also unusual as it is monopectinate (ie only one row of filaments comming off the main thread). Most large antennae like this are bipectinate (2 rows) or even tripectinate (3 rows).
Imaged 3M in Mar(1M) & Apr(2M)
Male, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal
Male, profile
🔍Male, profile
Male, anterior
Male, Antennae
🔍Male, Antennae
Male, Hindwings
🔍Male, Trailing Wing Shape
Male, ventral
🔍Male, ventral
Desert Nearcha Moth
Nearcha aridaria


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Head & body ~11mm, wingspan ~27mm.
As with all Nearcha's, the males have bipectinate antennae while females have filiform.
It's possible we have found females but not been able to id them. Nearcha's are very variable and only the males have the under-hindwing tufts to differentiate them. If we post any females, they'll be estimates based on patterns. We won't post any females unless we find a male; proving that species is at least found on Ellura.
Imaged 7(4M,1F) in Feb(1), Mar(1), Apr(1M), Sep(2M), Oct(1M) & Nov(1F)
S2 Male, dorsal
🔍S3 Male, dorsal
🔍S4 Male, dorsal
S4 Male, profile
S2 Male, anterior
S2 Male, diagnostic tuft
S4 Male, diagnostic tuft
S4 Male, ventral
Grey Nearcha Moth
Nearcha dasyzona


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~13mm long & ~36mm Wingspan.
A very pretty moth with a wavy line of black dots, shadowed with a brown band. They have a stunning black face, that isn't always visible.
Males have a couple of elongated patches of long, backward facing scales under the hingwings.
There can be variations in the intensity of the black dots such that they can join into a line. As well as how black the brown shadow is (from darker to ours, to almost non-existant). The same is true for the wavy line on the hindwings.
According to Peter Merriot, in Moths of Victoria, digital supplement "Comparision of Nearcha", the pattern of this tuft is diagnostic.
Imaged 25(22M,3F) in Jan(1M), Mar(1M), May(4M), Jun(2M), Jul(3M), Aug(4M), Sep(1M), Oct(8:6M,2F) & Nov(1F)
S1, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, dorsal, Wings Closed
S2, Male, dorsal, partial Body
🔍S14, Male, dorsal
🔍S23, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
🔍S15, Male, anterior
S1, Male, Head, dorsal
S1, Male, Antenna
S2, Male, Black Face
S2, Male, Black Face Hidden
S2, Male, Scale Patch
🔍S23, Male, Scale Patch
S2, Male, ventral
🔍S23, Male, ventral
Ragged-leaf Moth
Nycticleptes lechriodesma


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

Large moth at ~63mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, whereas females have filiform.
We shone the torch at the old growth mallee & bushes around in front of the carport when checking the night light; to help attract inverts in our direction. We saw her comming in via the torch light & thought, "that's a bit bigger than usual"; yep classic understatement

Imaged 1F in Apr
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Female, anterior
🔍Female, ventral
Bold Phrataria
Phrixocomes hedrasticha


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies & (BaronSamedi ) for confirming the id of this species for us

~13mm long
These are quite unusual in that the males have mono-pectinate, or uni-pectinate antennae. While female's are filiform.
They have tufts of their forewings, which look like black spots in the dorsal views.
We think of these as Nola mimics; probably because we discovered Nola moths first

Imaged 4(1M,2F) in Jan(2:1F), Feb(1F) & Mar(1M)
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, profile
🔍S2, Male, Antenna
🔍S2, Male, Partial Hindwing
🔍S3, Female, Partial Hindwing
🔍S3, Female, ventral
Bronze Heath Moth
Tapinogyna sp ES01


iNaturalist
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Thank you Peter Marriott, Ethan Beaver, Marilyn Hewish & Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us

Marilyn kindly let us know this was not Amelora catacris; emergence time is important in moth identification. Peter then said "... Taxeotis only have threadlike antennae - females and males. Nearcha - males pectinate on both sides and females threadlike". As such, it is most likely an undescribed species.
They were quite variable and photo artefacts played havoc. eg notice the white spots hide easily depending on the camera/lighting angle. The bronze colour also washed out easily in flash light.
The females we found appeared to have stronger markings than males; this may not always be the case.
These beautiful moths range from plain, pale brown to a magic bronze colour. We have grouped the photo's by male & female, to show differences between specimens.
Males are ~10mm long, with wingspan of 25mm. Female bodies are a bit shorter at ~8mm long, but with the same wingspan as the male. The under-wings don't appear much different between the genders, but the ventral shots show the significant difference in the body shapes; with males being long & thin, females short & fat.
They are a difficult lot and all the males we have are missing a diagnostic ventral tuft of Nearcha. Ethan recently found & id'ed similar moths as Tapinogyna perichroa. While some of these here look very similar to that species, the hind wings of our specimens look too rounded.
It's possible there are different species shown in this sequence of photo's.
Axel has kindly suggested S17 is Tapinogyna perichroa, but we feel the wing shapes don't much up well. The patterns certainly do and he may well be correct. But we'll wait for further research to better understand the differences with these. The bipectinate antennae of the males makes separation of species easier; not so for the females.
Imaged 38(15M,18F) in May(1M), Aug(8:5M,1F), Sep(23:9M,11F) & Oct(6F)
S6, Male, dorsal
S9, Male, dorsal
S13, Male, dorsal
S15, Male, dorsal
S16, Male, dorsal
S17, Male, dorsal
S17, Male, Hindwings
S17, M, Hindwing inner margin
S9, Male, profile
S16, Male, antenna
S17, Male, ventral
S5, Female, dorsal
S7, Female, dorsal
S10, Female, dorsal
S11, Female, dorsal
S12, Female, dorsal
S14, Female, dorsal
S14, Female, artefact
S7, Female, Hindwings
🔍S23, Female, Hindwings
S7, Female, Body, profile
S7, Female, ventral
Undescribed Heath Moth
Tapinogyna sp ES02


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Similar Species: Orange-spotted Taxeotis (Taxeotis xanthogramma)
Thank you Axel Kallies for helping with the id of this species for us

Originally thought this was Taxeotis, but over time become uncomfortable with this id.
Axel kindly suggested it's Tapinogyna perichroa; but the wings are too rounded in our opinion.
This group of moths is in bad need of revision and with luck research will be conducted on them one day to clearly differentiate them all. Until then we are suggesting this is undescribed, but of course Axel is quite possibly correct.
Imaged 8 in Aug(2), Sep(4) & Oct(2)
Ochre-headed Taxeotis Moth
Taxeotis exsectaria
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~7mm long, wingspan ~20mm.
Taxeotis moths are notoriously difficult to id. We've gone with T. exsectaria due to the ochre head, which is diagnostic, but the ochre wing bands are not seen on other examples. As such, this may be an undescribed species, which also has an ochre head. Hopefully it's just a local variation of T. excectaria.
Imaged 5 in Sep(3) & Oct(2)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S4, dorsal
S5, dorsal
S3, profile
S5, profile
S5, anterior
S5, ventral
Grey Taxeotis
Taxeotis intextata
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~8mm long, wingspan ~22mm.
Imaged 1 in Oct
🔍Dorsal
Anterior
Ventral
Spring Taxeotis
Taxeotis perlinearia


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Imaged 4 in Feb(1), Mar(1), Oct(1) & Dec(1)
Orange-spotted Taxeotis
Taxeotis xanthogramma


iNaturalist
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Similar Species: Undescribed Heath Moth (Tapinogyna sp ES02)
Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

We got these mixed up with our undescribed Oenochrominae sp.
Unusually, for a moth, the dorsal patterns are almost the same; with varying degrees of darkness (ie sometimes spots, etc, are not visible).
However, the shape of the wings separates these out.
A note of caution though. We've included 2 photo's of the same female specimen here to highlight how, with photo's, wing shape can change dramatically. Take a careful look at the right wing. In the first shot it's sitting up on a clear pot and looks a different shape to the second where it's resting on the table more naturally.
Imaged 5(1F) in Sep(4:1F) & Oct(1)
🔍Dorsal
🔍Female, Dorsal
🔍Female, Dorsal
🔍Female, Partial Hindwing
🔍Female, Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Geometer (:Geometridae Sterrhinae); 6 species from Ellura
White-edged Wave
Idaea costaria


iNaturalist
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Thank you Mike Burrell for confirming the id of this species for us

~14 to ~17mm natural wingspan.
These moths are very distinctive with a pale band across the leading edge of their wings and brown-red edging to the trailing edges of all wings.
These are very similar to Idaea inversata. These have the pale stripe between the antennae, where as I. inversata has a single coloured head with no stripe.
Imaged 7 in Feb(1), Mar(1), Apr(1), Oct(1), Nov(2) & Dec(1)
S1, dorsal
🔍S5, dorsal
🔍S6, dorsal
S1, profile
S1, anterior
🔍S5, anterior
🔍S6, anterior
S1, ventral
Flecked Wave
Idaea philocosma
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~4mm long, wingspan ~16mm. Our only specimen in October escaped after 1 photo.
Imaged 1 in Oct
Dorsal
Tree-ring Moth
Scopula episcia


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

1st Live Photo On-line:
Head & body ~8mm, wingspan ~28mm.
We questioned Axel over the different shaped dark band. He pointed to a conversation he had on someone else's observation, that matches ours, where he said "There is actually DNA data available on BOLD and you can download a tree. Specimens like yours group nicely with others from WA under episcia."
Axel says the moth referred to in the MoV books as Scopula sp 3 is also this species.
Imaged 3(1M,2F) in Jan(1F), Aug(1M) & Dec(1F)
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
🔍S3, Female, profile
S1, Male, ventral
Lydia's Wave Moth
Scopula lydia


iNaturalist
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Thank you Matt Campbell & Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Males have antennae filaments, and are browner with less distinct markings than females.
Imaged 14(5M,8F) in Jan(3:2M,1F), Feb(1F), Mar(2:1M,1F), May(1M), Sep(3F), Oct(2:1F), Nov(1F) & Dec(1M)
S1, Female, dorsal, wingspan ~15mm
S1, Female, profile
S2, Female, Hindwings, dorsal
S3, Male, dorsal
S3, Male, Antenna
S3, Male, profile
S3, Male, ventral
Varied Wave Moth
Scopula optivata


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Similar Species: Wavy Noctuid (Ericeia subsignata)
Thank you Axel Kallies & Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

~25mm wingspan. These seem quite fragile.
It is difficult to be sure, but we think males have finely hairy antennae (very difficult to see even in photographs), while we think female antennae are smooth. Both are filiform.
Imaged 12(5M,3F) in Jan(3), Feb(2:1M,1F), Mar(1F), Sep(3:2M) & Oct(3:2M,1F)
🔍S7, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S4, Female, dorsal
🔍S10, dorsal
S4, Female, ventral
Plantain Moth
Scopula rubraria
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Note the dark and white striped antennae in this species, it's quite noticable. Males have reasonably obvious filaments.
Imaged 21(10M,11F) in Mar(4:3M,1F), Apr(2F), May(1M), Jul(1F), Aug(2F), Oct(8:4M,4F), Nov(2M) & Dec(1F)
S4, Male, Light Morph, dorsal
S3, Female, Light Morph, dorsal
S1, Female, Dark Morph, dorsal
S2, Female, Light Morph, anterior
S1, Female, Dark Morph, anterior
S1, Female, Dark Morph, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Leaf Miner (:Gracillarioidea Gracillariidae); 2 species, none from Ellura
Blackbutt Leaf Miner
Acrocercops laciniella


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Imaged 1 in Apr
Echium Leaf Miner
Dialectica scalariella


iNaturalist
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Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Apr
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Swift Moth (:Hepialoidea Hepialidae); 5 species, 2 from Ellura
Silvery Ghost Moth
Abantiades cf argentata
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying this species for us

Ethan said he's not sure of the ID on this one as the markings aren't 'classic' for the new species.
Imaged 1M in Apr
Male, Partial Hindwing
Male, Palps
Male, Palps
Faded Ghost Moth
Abantiades marcidus
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Imaged 2 in Mar(1) & Apr(1)
Female, dorsal
Female, ventral
Rain Moth
Abantiades sp
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SynonymTrictena

Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying this species for us

Very large moth that emerge after early autumn rains.
Imaged 1F in May
Female, profile, rotated
Female, ventral
Eastern Pale Rain Moth
Abantiades tembyi


iNaturalist
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SynonymTrictena

Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Very large moth ~55m long, with a wingspan of ~115mm
Dark grey with light grey lightening pattern on the wings
After discovering the horn on the Forked Grass moth recently, we wanted to clearly show the projections out the front of this species were in fact part of the palps, and not an additional appendage.
Ethan told us "tembyi" is in honour of Nick Temby who collected several critical specimens out near Ceduna.
The pupal case is not necessarily the same species as the moth; but this is the only Abantiades we've found on Ellura and Ethan says they are very specific about where they live.
The second specimen we just loaded was considerably smaller than the first. The new one was ~50mm tip to tail with a wingspan of ~90mm.
Imaged 3(2M) in May
🔍Male, dorsal, wings open
🔍Male, dorsal, wings closed
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Palps
🔍Male, ventral
🔍Pupal Case
🔍Male, dorsal, wings open
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Hindwing
🔍Male, anterior
🔍Male, Antenna, rear
🔍Male, Antenna, Hook Shaped Pectinations
🔍Male, Antenna, Pectination Branches to 3
🔍Male, Antenna, 'Hairs' on Pectinations
🔍Male, Under Hindwing
🔍Male, Ventral
Chequered Ghost Moth
Fraus polyspila


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameChequered Fraus

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~13mm long & 32mm wingspan.
Typically Ghost moths are amoung the larger moths in Australia, spanning the width of a large hand. So it was a complete surprise to us to realise this little moth was in the same family as the giants

Apparantly the scales fall off very easily so on-line photo's look very different to each other as the pattern dissapears.
Thanks Ethan for letting us know the one we found is a male.
Imaged 10(8M,1F) in Apr(8:6M,1F) & May(2M)
Male, dorsal
🔍Male, dorsal
Male, profile
🔍Male, profile
Male, anterior
Male, on finger
Male, ventral
🔍Male, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Tiger Moth (:Noctuoidea Erebidae); 32 species, 27 from Ellura
White-shouldered Moth
Acontia clerana


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Thank you Larney Grenfell for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long, ~19mm wingspan Female (based on the colouration of the front of the wings. Males are mainly white near the front of the wings.
Imaged 1F in Mar
🔍S1, Female, profile
🔍S1, Female, anterior
Undescribed Tussock Moth
Acyphas cf sp
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This doesn't look like either of the two Acyphas species (larvae) above we get in SA. It's possibly A. pelodes but the larvae for that species hasn't been photographed on-line.
Imaged 1J in Sep
Larva 2, dorsal
Larva 2, profile
White Tussock Moth
Acyphas chionitis


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~10mm long, ~32mm wingspan.
These are very difficult to separate from A. semiochrea.
We have used the lack of any orange on the face & legs to put them in this group. They seem to inhabit the same regions.
The females use their orange/yellow ventral tuft to cover their eggs for protection. When we caught S5, she laid some eggs in the pot as shown here. They are <1mm diameter each. The larger egg mass shown is ~4mm wide.
Imaged 6(1M,3F,1J) in Apr(1F), Oct(4:1M,2F,1J) & Dec(1)
🔍Eggs from S5
🔍S1, Larva, dorsal
🔍S2, Female, profile
S2, Female, dorsal
S3, Adult, dorsal
S5, Female, dorsal
S5, Female, profile
S5, Female, Antenna
🔍S5, Female, ventral
Crescent-marked Tussock Moth
Acyphas pelodes


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

2nd On-line Sighting in SA
~11mm long, ~27mm wingspan.
A very pale version compared to other live photographs, but matches well with Bold specimens. The orange tufted body and wing markings line up.
Imaged 2M in Apr(1M) & Oct(1M)
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Hindwing
🔍Male, Abdominal Tufts
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Male, ventral
Omnivorous Tussock Moth
Acyphas semiochrea


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Thank you Anthony Paul & Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Males were ~10-11mm long, ~28-30mm wingspan. Larvae ~20mm long b4 pupating.
These seem to be a species complex as they are so highly variable. Some adults have a dark spot on their forewings which is an easier characteristic to id them, but we've not seen it on the few we've have photographed. Notice many others have black antennae. Ours are always pale/brown.
We found S8, larva, on Acacia sclerophylla var sclerophylla.
We raised S6 (on Acacia myrtifolia in Lobethal), which turned out to be a male, and show the progress here; linking larva/caterpillar to pupa to adult.
The caterpillars get a grey fungal growth like appearance on them. This turns out to be hair like scales that matt over each other. This is clearly visible in the "3 day" image.
Also note the larva have 2 red tubercle structures near their rear end. These are sack like and enlarge when they feel threatened.
One assumes the fungal appearance & orange & red colours suggest to predators they are not good prey.
Imaged 9(2M,7J) in Jan(1J), Feb(2:1M,2J), Mar(1J), Aug(1J), Sep(1J), Oct(1) & Dec(2:1M,1J)
S1, Larva, dorsal
🔍S1, Larva, head
S1, Larva, profile
S2, Larva, perspective
S3, Larva, dorsal
S3, Larva, profile
🔍S5, Male, dorsal, Wings Open
🔍S5, Male, dorsal, Tented Wings
🔍S5, Male, profile
🔍S5, Male, profile, other side
🔍S5, Male, Hindwings
🔍S5, Male, Antenna
🔍S5, Male, Orange Legs
🔍S5, Male, ventral
🔍S6, Male, Caterpillar, First day
🔍S6, Male, Larva, 3 days after Found
🔍S6, Male, Larva, 7 days after Found
🔍S6, Male, Larva, 7 days after Found
🔍S6, Male, Pupating, 14 Days after Found
🔍S6, Male, Pupated, 16 Days after Found
🔍S6, Male, Emerged, 35 Days after Found
🔍S6, Male, Drying it's Wings
🔍S6, Male, Body, profile
🔍S6, Male, dorsal
🔍S6, Male, profile
🔍S6, Male, Orange Legs & Face
🔍S6, Male, ventral
🔍S8, Larva, dorsal
🔍S8, Larva, profile
🔍S8, Larva, Feet, Tubercles Reduced
🔍S8, Larva, Tubercles Extended
🔍S8, Larva, Ventral, with a mite
Wasp Moth
Amata aperta
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Other Common NameDay-flying Tiger Moth

Similar Species: Wasp Moth (Amata xanthura)
Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying this species for us

We haven't seen them on Ellura until this one flew past one evening. A week later and we were happily inundated with them.
These species within the Amata genus are very difficult to distinguish; with even experts & the Australian National Insect Collection have trouble. They have a lot of varition within species, with A. Aperta generally having more orange head, and the area on the wing between the outside 2 patches being oranged, or an another blotch of orange. They all have orange patches on wings, with Black & orange striped body and a longitudinal orange stripe on each leg.
Males are larger & have a thinner body, compared with females.
Imaged 9(6M,3F) in Feb(1M) & Mar(8:5M,3F)
Male, Whole
🔍Mating, Female left, Male right
Head, iso
Head, dorsal
Head, profile
Male, ventral
Wasp Moth
Amata xanthura


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SynonymSyntomis xanthura

Other Common NameDay-flying Tiger Moth

Similar Species: Wasp Moth (Amata aperta)
Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying and Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

These tend to have orange shoulders and black head, compared with Amata aperta
Imaged 6(4M) in Mar
Male, All wings showing
Male, Whole
🔍Male, Whole
Head & Shoulders
Ventral
Profile
Face & Striped Legs
Clouded Footman
Anestia ombrophanes


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Dee Petersen & Dion Maple for confirming the id of this species for us

Flightless Female is ~5mm long, 0mm wingspan. Males have a wingspan ~25mm.
Males are While the male moth is rather drab with his wings closed, the interest starts to peak when you see his wings open; such an orange flash. The caterpillars feed on lichen. Then to discover that both male & female caterpillars make their cocoon out of their own hair. They then pupate inside this and their gender can be determined at this early stage. The female is an incredible array of pink, black & white AND she doesn't have any wings when she emerges. She waits for a male to fly to her. They mate and then she deposits her eggs on the hairs of her cocoon. She then spends the rest of her short life (~2 weeks) tending to her eggs. What an interesting species!
A more technical term for wingless insects is "Apterous". It's hard to know if shes wingless, or has reduced wings, which would make her "Brachypterous".
Imaged 34(21M,3F,9J) in Jan(3:2M,1E), Mar(2:1M,1J), Apr(4M), May(8:1M,3F,2J,4E), Aug(1J), Sep(6:6M,1J), Oct(9:6M,3J) & Nov(1:1M,1J)
🔍Caterpillar
Male Pupa, new
🔍Male Pupa
Male Pupa Case, empty
🔍Female Pupa
🔍Adult Male, dorsal
Adult Male, profile
Adult Male, Hindwings
Adult Male, ventral
Adult Female, dorsal
🔍Adult Female, dorsal
🔍Adult Female, profile
Adult Female, anterior
Adult Female with Eggs
Cryptic Snout Moth
Arrade destituta


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~7mm long with a wingspan of ~22mm.
A stunning moth with various tufts giving it real presence, yet it's quite small.
Imaged 3 in Sep(1), Oct(1) & Nov(1)
Dorsal
🔍Profile
Forwing
Ventral
Cryptic Crest Moth
Brachycyttara crypsipyrrha
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A very rare moth, originally only found in WA. MoV8 reports it has since been discovered in SA (once), Vic (once) & NSW.
The 1st thing we noticed about this moth was the irregular "gold" line running laterally near the back of the forewing. It's not so obvious with the camera and turns out to be a pale line with orange highlights, giving it an illusion of "gold".
~18mm long with a wingspan of ~35mm.
The males have many more lines along the trailing edge of the forewing (outer margin), but both have filiform (thread like) antennae.
The forewings are scalloped along the outer margin and have 3, equally spaced, lateral, pale lines spattered with orange flecks. The shape of the palps is also quite unusual.
The hindwings have a spot in the middle. It's not obvious unless you look for it.
The antennae base and legs joints are all highlighted by orange scales. Those at the antennae base almost look like coloured eyelashes

Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Apr(1M) & Jun(1F)
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, hindwing
Female, forewing
Female, head & palps
Female, ventral
Doubleday's Footman
Castulo doubledayi


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

The female was ~8-9mm long with wingspan of ~28mm.
Males have bipectinate antennae, females have filiform.
The only 2 specimens we found were very worn & damaged. The white marks on the males forewing, eg, are damage not patterns. Fortunately one was male & one female to show the differences.
Imaged 2(1M,1F) in Mar
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, head
Male, hindwings
Male, ventral
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, hindwings
Female, under forewings
Female, ventral
Old Lady Moth
Dasypodia selenophora


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Other Common NameGranny Moth (but this can refer to other species as well) & Southern Moon Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

These moths have a propensity for buildings. We often find them in the patio, and when they can't get out they die which is rather sad. Fortunately they are very common and can be found everywhere in spring & autumn.
A beautiful large moth with a large "eye" on each forewing. The proper name for each "eye" is Reniform Stigma (thanks Mark
).
Ian Gibbins reminded us that "Reni" is latin for "Kidney"; hence Reniform means "Kidney Shaped".
These Stigma are useful protection from predators that think twice before attacking such a huge "face".
They are quite shiny and perceived colours vary considerably depending on lighting angles & intensity.
They have a zig zag pattern on both fore & hindwings, but the forewing lines are much more well defined. Both wings also have a trailing line of small white dots at the top of each fold in the wing.
Underneath each wing also has a black spot (with a couple of black lines/patches on each side).
The orange ring surrounding the Reniform Stigma does seem to vary in thickness, as does the inner pale blue/white line.
Wingspan is ~80mm
Imaged 18(5J) in Jan(4:2J), Feb(1J), Mar(2), Apr(1), Aug(1J), Sep(1), Oct(3), Nov(3) & Dec(2:1J)
Larva, dorsal
Larva, profile
Larva, eyes
Larva, feet, profile
Larva, and more feet
Larva, face
Larva, ventral
🔍Dorsal
🔍Dorsal, thin orange ring
Dorsal, thick orange ring
Light angle colour variations
Profile
Anterior
🔍The "Eye", called a Reniform Stigma
Ventral
Spotted Noctuid Moth
Diatenes gerula


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 4 in Mar(3) & Dec(1)
Dorsal, ~40mm wingspan
Anterior
Posterior
Ventral
Orange Noctuid Moth
Diatenes igneipicta


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~14mm long & ~37mm wingspan.
Males & Females both have filiform antennae, so determining gender is difficult. One specimen's body was so wide/stout we determined it to be female, but others were not so clear.
Imaged 11(1F) in Jan(1), Feb(1), Mar(1), Sep(2), Oct(1) & Nov(5:1F)
S2, dorsal
S2, profile
S2, Head, dorsal
S1, anterior
S2, ventral
White-spotted Owl Moth
Donuca spectabilis


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Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us

~25mm long, ~60mm wingspan.
These are a large moth with an orange tip to the last third of it's abdomen and orange hair underneath.
Imaged 1F in Nov
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Female, Orange Abdomen
🔍Female, Orange Underhairs
Tufted Double-spot Moth
Epicyrtica cf MoV3
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Similar Species: Fine-veined Geometrid (Amphicrossa hemadelpha) : Webbed Grey (Rhuma argyraspis)
This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 8 as Epicyrtica sp. (3)
~11mm long & wingspan 28mm.
While it appears to have 3 tufts, the front two are from the head & body, while the hind 'tuft' is actually created by the edge of the forewings.
Imaged 5 in Apr(3) & May(2)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S3, profile
S2, partial hindwing
S3, ventral
Lichen Double-spot Moth
Epicyrtica lathridia


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long & 22mm wingspan.
We found these very difficult to differentiate with other Double-spot moths, so many lines to compare. The S1 & S2 were quite worn. S3 is much fresher; making id easier.
One difference that stands out with this species vs the other Epicyrtica we've published is their very hairy look around the legs.
Imaged 4 in Apr(3) & May(1)
S1, Female, dorsal
S2, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, dorsal
S1, Female, profile
S2, Male, profile
S1, Female, ventral
S2, Male, ventral
Wavy Noctuid
Ericeia subsignata


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Similar Species: Varied Wave Moth (Scopula optivata)
Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

Wingspan ~25mm.
Very similar to the Varied Wave Moth (Scopula optivata), but the head is different with large palps.
Imaged 2 in Jan(1) & Mar(1)
S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
S1, profile
S1, anterior
S1, Forewing, ventral
S1, ventral
Inconspicuous Eublemma
Eublemma inconspicua


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Lyn Craggs for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 9 in Jan(4), Sep(2), Oct(1), Nov(1) & Dec(1)
S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
Undescribed Lichen Moth
Eutane ANIC1


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long females. The females both dropped eggs in the pot. Both genders had filiform antennae.
A good id match, except for the body colour, which appears black on Bold.
They were day flying, around a Westringia rigida bush, not in flower. However they had a habit of being on the ground. So the Westringia rigida may be a furphy; or may support a particular type of lichen. There's plenty of lichen on the ground, and on the bush; but different types of course. Each Lichen species depends on a certain substrate type (timber, ground/rock, etc). This genus is known from coastal Qld & NSW.
Imaged 17(2M,2F) in Feb
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S1, Female, profile
🔍S3, Male, profile
🔍S1, Female, Wings
🔍S3, Male, Wings
🔍S1, Female, Body, dorsal
🔍S1, Female, Antenna
🔍S1, Female, anterior
S1, Female, Eggs
🔍S1, Female, Underwing
🔍S1, Female, ventral
🔍S3, Male, ventral
Large-eyed Box-owlet
Grammodes ocellata


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Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Apr
🔍Dorsal
Rock Lichen Moth
Halone sp ES01


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Thank you Don Herbison-Evans, Axel Kallies & Donald Hobern for helping with the id of this species for us

~22mm wingspan.
We suspected this was H. sinuata. Has orange hind wings which we were unable to photograph. Has the orange tip on the abdomen.
Antennae are very finely pectinate.
There are 2 records of Halone consolatrix in SA in the bold bins, so on location, H consolatrix would be the choice. But doesn't look right. Halones do seem variable though.
Donald questioned our id, saying "Halone as a whole is challenging". Axel lifted it to genus saying "Not sure what it is, but I dont think sinuata is right."
Imaged 2 in Mar
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
Male, neck
🔍Male, Orange Abdomen Tip
🔍Male, ventral
Senecio Moth
Nyctemera amicus


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Thank you Don Herbison-Evans for identifying and Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us

Adult females have a wingspan of ~44mm, and are ~15mm long. We haven't measured a male as yet. Larvae measured up to ~24mm long, generally black (or grey) with 3 orange longitudinal stripes. Young instars are black & white with no orange stripe, nor tufts (but still hairy). Intermediate instars have black & orange with areas of white patches which confuse the overall pattern. They are very hairy with 2 tufts of hair at the front which look like antennae or horns. You can see the hairs also have barbs/hairs on them. They feed on various varieties of senecio (hence their species common name)
A day flying moth, the adult wings are mainly black with white/cream blotches making a diagonal, thick line on the wings. Their bodies are orange & black horizontally striped (leading to the "tiger moth" common name of the family). They have orange highlights behind the head and on the wing tips (cilia).
Male & female adults can be differentiated by their antennae. While both are bipectinate (2 rows of filaments), the male pectinations (filaments) are longer and more spread than the females; as shown in the photo's.
We have seen adults in Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Oct, Nov & Dec.
Imaged 21(4M,6F,6J) in Jan(2:1M,1F), Feb(1J), Mar(1), Apr(1F), May(2:1M,1J), Jun(3:2M,1J), Jul(1J), Aug(1F), Oct(4:2F,1J,2E), Nov(3:1J) & Dec(2:1F)
🔍S13, Larva, dorsal
🔍S13, Larva, profile
🔍S13, Larva, tufts & hairs
🔍S13, Larva, Head
🔍S13, Larva, Spiracles
🔍S13, Larva, Feet
🔍S13, Larva, ventral
S1, Pupa
S1, Empty Pupa Case
S10, Male, dorsal
S9, Female, dorsal
🔍S9, Female, hindwings
S9, Female, Abdomen, dorsal
🔍S6, Female, dorsal
S6, Female, profile
🔍S6, Female, anterior
S6, Female, antenna
S9, Female, Palps, dorsal
S9, Female, Palps, ventral
S6, Female, ventral
🔍S20 & S21, Pair Copulating
Painted Apple Moth
Orgyia anartoides


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~28mm long larva. Very dark specimen.
Imaged 1J in Jul
🔍S1, Larva, profile
🔍S1, Larva, dorsal
🔍S1, Larva, Red Neck
🔍S1, Larva, Foot
🔍S1, Larva, Tubercles, profile
🔍S1, Larva, Tubercles, dorsal
Oblique-lined Panty Moth
Pantydia canescens


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Imaged 2 in Jan
🔍S1, dorsal
Gold Threaded Panty Moth
Pantydia MoV1
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This is figured in Moths of Victoria, part 8, as Pantydia sp. (1). It is also on Bold as Pantydia ANIC4.
~17mm long with wingspan of ~38mm.
The ventral pattern on the hindwing separates this from other Pantydia species.
Males have slightly thicker antennae and are more difficult to id (vary more) than the females; which (females) also have a thicker body.
Interestingly this perfect specimen (very fresh?) shows a medial spot under each hindwing which isn't very obvious in other resources.
Imaged 9(5M,1F) in Mar(3:1M), Jul(1F), Aug(1M), Oct(2:1M) & Nov(2M)
🔍Female, dorsal
Female, profile
🔍Female, anterior
Female, stance
Female, hindwing
Female, Gold "Thread"
Female, ventral
Edward's Praxis
Praxis edwardsii
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Head & body ~16mm, wingspan ~45mm.
Imaged 2(1J) in Jul(1) & Nov(1J)
Dorsal
Profile
Palps
Anterior
Ventral
Western Praxis
Praxis marmarinopa


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Thank you Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

~15mm long
Imaged 2 in Jan(1) & Oct(1)
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Anterior
🔍Ventral
Black & White Tiger Moth
Spilosoma glatignyi
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Other Common NamesBlack and White Tiger Moth or Woollybear Caterpillar

~21mm body & head length, ~55mm wingspan.
This is one of those species that "plays dead" very well.
A spectacular moth with bright orange upper-body, legs & highlights. The upper-body orange is interrupted with a transverse black line/blotch on each segment; with a white tail tuft.
The wings are black or brown & white, with varying patterns. The under body is white with 5 dashed black longitudinal lines/blotches.
Males & females are very difficult to separate. While females are generally larger, this is not always so (both male & female specimens shown here have the same wingspan, with the male having a slightly longer body). They both have bipectinate antennae. The male pectinations, however, are slightly longer. Of the few ventral photo's we can find, the females are missing a front, central black blotch as well. This could be a random colour variation, like the wings. We would be keen on hearing from anyone that can link/send ventral photo's of females with all the black blotches to us

Imaged 6(2M,1F,3J) in Apr(3:2M,1F), Aug(2J) & Sep(1J)
S1, Male, profile
🔍S1, Male, Tail
S2, Larva, dorsal
S2, Larva, face
S2, Larva, profile
S2, Larva, Legs
S3, Female, dorsal
S3, Female, profile
S3, Female, Head
S3, Female, Abdomen, profile
S3, Female, ventral
S4, Male, dorsal
S4, Male, profile
S4, Male, Abdomen, profile
S4, Male, ventral
Double Yellow-patched Footman
Termessa zonophanes


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~10mm long, ~28mm wingspan. A highly variable species.
Males & Females have filiform antennae, so the only way to separte them is with ventral shots. Of the two we photographed ventrally, they both appeared to be males.
Imaged 6(2M) in Mar(2M) & Apr(4)
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Normal Stance
🔍Male, Antenna
🔍Male, ventral
Desert Footman
Thallarcha rhaptophora


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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

Males ~8mm long, ~25mm wingspan & have bi-pectinate antennae (but the pectinations are quite short)
Females ~6mm long, ~20mm wingspan and have filiform antennae.
Imaged 9(2M,4F) in Feb(1F), Mar(2:1F), Apr(2), Sep(2:1M,1F) & Oct(2:1M,1F)
S1, Dorsal
S2, Dorsal, ~5mm
S2, Profile, wingspan ~18mm
S2, Anterior
S2, Ventral
Halgania Moth
Utetheisa pulchelloides


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SynonymUtethesia pulchelloides

Other Common NameHeliotrope Moth

Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

~13mm long, with a wingspan of ~35mm.
Very colourful moth close up, but the colours are not visible when flying. Males & females cannot normally be distinguished. At rest it wraps it's wings around the body, making it very difficult to get a full wing pattern from one side. It's best to get profile from both sides and dorsal shots to see the whole forewing.
Another insect with a common name associated with a weed, but is a native insect. It's larvae eat Boraginaceae, with the most dominant plant in the family on Ellura being Halgania
White moth, with black and red swatches (almost an art deco fabric design). There are 5 red marks along the inner margin (but they can be grey or even missing) that match the 5 red marks along the costa. The size of the red marks varies considerably. They can also join together or be very segregated.
Has varying degrees of mustard highlights around the head & shoulder.
There is another very similar moth, the Salt and Pepper Moth (Utetheisa lotrix), that is usually further north.
We have found adults in Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Oct & Nov.
Imaged 55(3J) in Jan(2), Feb(5), Mar(17:2J), Apr(17), May(9:1J), Jun(1), Oct(1) & Nov(3)
Larva, dorsal
Larva, head
🔍Adult, dorsal
🔍Adult, profile 'normal'
Dorsal, large, red, joined patches
Dorsal, large, red, joined patches
Rear 2 patches are grey not red
Dorsal, 2nd red patch is missing
Dorsal, 5th red patch is grey
🔍Hindwings
Face
Drinking
Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Euteliidae); 1 species from Ellura
Brown Eutelin Moth
Pataeta carbo


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Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying, Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming and Dr Ken Walker for helping with the id of this species for us

1st Record in SA on Atlas:
Imaged 6(1M,1F) in Jan(1), Feb(2:1F), Mar(2:1M) & May(1)
Dorsal
Front
Rear
Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Acronictinae); 22 species, 20 from Ellura
Spotted Owlet Moth
Athetis tenuis


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Thank you Dr Peter McQuillan for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long with 25mm wingspan. Filiform antennae, with no visible difference between the genders we can find.
A common moth found all over the country. Difficult to id though as it's relatively plain looking and very shiny in a camera flash.
In the middle of their forewings they have a small dark spot or line within a slightly pale longitudinal line which can also have some pale spots toward the rear. In the right light you can see an irregular lateral row of dots about 3/4 along the forewing. In the same light, some irregular spots form another zigzag line about 1/4 the way along the forewing.
The feature that stands out the most are the 3 scale tufts on the back of the thorax that look like a shield. These are not clear on pinned specimens but can be seen in the photo's here. This scale formation is not unique to this species, but did help in collating different specimen photo's.
The ventral view shows an interesting pattern under the hindwings (which are quite a bit shorter than the forewings). They are pale off white, with dark speckles on the leading edge, fading to plain quickly towards the inner margin.
Note the robust palps and huge hind legs! For such a plain moth, it has some very interesting features

We have found them in Mar, May & Sep.
Imaged 7 in Mar(1), May(1) & Sep(5)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S4, dorsal
S5, dorsal
S6, dorsal
S6, profile
S6, angle showing spots
S6, partial hindwing
S6, ventral
Red Flecked Owlet Moth
Hypoperigea tonsa
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Imaged 3 in Aug(1), Sep(1) & Oct(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Mini Owlet Moth
Mataeomera sp


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S1 ~8mm long, ~18mm wingspan
S2 ~7mm long, ~15mm wingspan
S3 ~8mm long, ~22mm wingspan
S4 ~7mm long, ~20mm wingspan
All 4 sightings have different wing patterns & varying palp length. When we checked the MoV cds (Moths of Victoria) and found how variable they are, and need reworking, we couldn't work out which was which; they could all be one, or 4 different species.
We couldn't tell the genders apart either. Bodies look similar. It seems the male antennae may have thicker "hairs" than the female.
Imaged 7 in Jan(2), Feb(1), Mar(1), Sep(1), Oct(1) & Nov(1)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S4, dorsal + Hindwings
S1, camera artefacts
S1, profile
S2, profile
S3, profile
S4, profile
S3, Partial Hindwings
S1, ventral
S4, ventral
Black Noctuid
Neumichtis nigerrima


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Thank you Cathy Powers, Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Dion Maple for confirming the id of this species for us

~16mm long.
These are a VERY black moth, so have raised the lighting on the example we caught to highlight features and generally hidden patterns. We've left the lower quality images to indicate their more realistic colour.
Cathy said "The black moth caught in the spider web has all the lines and markings of Neumichtis nigerrima".
However, there is an undescribed species that looks the same with bi-pectinate antennae. Neumichtis nigerrima only has thread like antennae. So if you find a moth like this with bi-pectinate antennae, please let us know here, or contact Cathy. She'd be very keen to see it. We'll be keeping our eye out too

Imaged 9 in Jan(4), Apr(1), Sep(1), Oct(1), Nov(1) & Dec(1)
🔍S9, dorsal
S1, profile
🔍S9, profile
🔍S9, Spot Under Hindwing
🔍S2, Caught in a web
🔍S9, ventral
Green Cutworm
Neumichtis saliaris


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Thank you Cathy Powers for identifying this species for us

The common name is based on the green caterpillar. Originally we identified this as N. archephanes They are an incredibly variable species going from this dark blue morph through to very pale brown. The subterminal line is the key, and on N. archephanes it's straight, not curved like this one. The subterminal line is the line between the blue band at the back of the forewings and the brown brown area torwards the middle of the forewings.
Imaged 2 in Nov(1) & Dec(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Front
Undescribed Proteuxoa
Proteuxoa ANIC6


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This is figured on Bold as Proteuxoa ANIC6.
~10mm long with wingspan of ~25mm.
Imaged 3(1M) in Mar
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S1, profile
S1, ventral
Herringbone Caterpillar
Proteuxoa cf sp ES01


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Imaged 2 in Aug
Dorsal
Profile, legs
Head
Side
Herringbone Caterpillar
Proteuxoa cf sp ES02


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Imaged 1 in Sep
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral, ~30mm
Herringbone Caterpillar
Proteuxoa cf sp ES05


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This specimen was ~17mm long.
Any larvae (caterpillars) we have identified without raising to adults we tag with a question mark, like here. As such, id is quite unreliable, a best guess of what it will turn into.
From now on we will capture all caterpillars we find and haven't id, raise them and post photo's showing the various stages. Perhaps even manage to breed them to get male, female & egss; there by linking all forms together.
Caterpillars can vary in shape & colour as they grow in roughly 5 stages (instars). It'll also be interesting to see any variations between male & female larvae.
Imaged 1 in Sep
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Blunt Noctuid Moth
Proteuxoa chrysospila


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

The solid rectangular wing mark is a diagnostic feature with these.
We originally thought these were Y-barred Noctuid Moths (Proteuxoa epiplecta), but Moths of Victoria part 9 CD has a page on the P. tortisigna group; which showed the id to be incorrect.
Imaged 3 in Apr
Dorsal, ~11mm
Profile
Head
Ventral
Noctuid Moth
Proteuxoa cinereicollis


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

This matches exactly to a specimen on Bold.
Imaged 1 in Apr
🔍Profile
Dorsal
Head
Red Blooming Proteuxoa
Proteuxoa florescens


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Thank you Marilyn Hewish for confirming the id of this species for us

The male was ~12mm long & 29mm wingspan. Females were slightly larger at ~13mm long & 30mm wingspan.
Imaged 20(3M,14F) in Apr
Male, dorsal
Male, Wings Spread
Male, profile
Male, Head
Male, ventral
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
🔍Female, Partial Hindwing
Female, ventral
Sun Spot Proteuxoa
Proteuxoa heliosema


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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

~11mm long & 28mm wingspan.
Imaged 3 in Apr(2) & May(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Blotched Noctuid
Proteuxoa passalota


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~11mm long, ~26mm wingspan
We'd never have thought this was a Proteuxoa, generally they have some sort of moon shaped, crescent, mark on their wing. We have photographed one that doesn't have any mark though. So only reasonable that there's one with a large one.
What attracted us to it was the gold sheen coming from the row on the back of the forewings. Not obvious here, just looking a yellowy brown.
Imaged 2 in Apr
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Ventral
Red Spotted Noctuid Moth
Proteuxoa rubripuncta


iNaturalist
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Thank you Marilyn Hewish & Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Found dead. ~20mm long & 25mm wingspan.
Imaged 1 in Feb
Dorsal
Ventral
Owlet Moth
Proteuxoa sp ES03


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Thank you Marilyn Hewish, Axel Kallies & Dr Paul Whitington for confirming the id of this species for us

We thought this was Proteuxoa marginalis, but Marilyn Hewish kindly advised otherwise.
Axel also said "I dont think it is oxygona. That one has white veins along the middle of forewing which are missing here. This specimen has a white speck near the forewing base (missing in oxygona)."
Imaged 1 in Mar
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Dark Noctuid Moth
Proteuxoa sp ES07


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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

We thought this might be P. restituta, but Axel said "P. restituta has a light grey collar".
Imaged 1 in Apr
Dorsal, ~17mm
Profile
Ventral
Spotless Owlet Moth
Thoracolopha acontoura


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SynonymProteuxoa acontoura

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~11mm long & 30mm wingspan.
Based on body shape, we assume females have an ochre tint to the posterior end of their abdomen. What we assume to be males are off-white. There didn't appear to be any other variations we could see.
They have a faint racing stripe behind their head, which is not visible on pinned samples as the pin-head interferes.
We weren't able to capture their satin texture in photographs. An elegant moth to the naked eye. And due to the lack of crescents & spots, not obviously a proteuxoa.
Imaged 11(4M,3F) in Apr
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, ventral
Male, dorsal
Male, ventral
Ragged-banded Owlet Moth
Thoracolopha atmoscopa


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SynonymProteuxoa atmoscopa

Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~10mm long with ~25mm wingspan.
Marilyn told us "Proteuxoa was split into two genera. Proteuxoa and Thoracolopha, in a publication by Bobbie Hitchcock et al", in late 2017.
Many of these Noctuid's are very shiny and difficult to photograph. We've been experimenting with turning the flash off and using external light sources to highlight the lines and reduce glare. You can see the differences here. The no flash photo's are out of focus more, little depth of field and very yellow. Cathy Powers has shown us a home made diffuser made from foam which we are now experimenting with to improve these issues while reducing flash glare / sparkle.
Imaged 2 in Mar(1) & Apr(1)
S1, dorsal
S1, dorsal, no flash
S2, dorsal
S2, dorsal, no flash
S2, dorsal, greyed
S1, profile
S2, head
S1, ventral
Undescribed Owlet Moth
Thoracolopha sp ES04


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SynonymProteuxoa

Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying this species for us

Head & body length ~10mm, wingspan ~22mm.
We thought this was Agrotis porphyricollis, but Marilyn kindly advised us of the correct id.
Imaged 7(3F) in Apr(4:3F), Sep(1) & Nov(2)
🔍S2, Female, dorsal
S3, Female, dorsal
S4, Female, dorsal
S2, Female, hindwings
S3, Female, profile
S3, Female, ventral
Black Crescent Owlet Moth
Thoracolopha sp ES06


iNaturalist
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SynonymProteuxoa

Thank you Marilyn Hewish for identifying and Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long with winspan of ~28mm.
As both genders of Proteuxoa & Thoracolopha have filiform antennae, it makes determining their genders more difficult. The body shapes, shown here, are used to guess the different genders.
Marilyn said "This is labelled as an undescribed Proteuxoa species in the Aust. National Insect Collection. My research has found 25 Vic. specimens from the west of the state. It can be distinguished from P. verecunda by the very broad black crescent mark and the lack of wavy cross-lines on the forewing."
Axel said "This one really does not seem to have a name (yet)".
Imaged 3 in Mar(2) & Apr(1)
Male, dorsal
Male, ventral
Female, profile
Female, anterior
Female, ventral
Black Spotted Owlet Moth
Thoracolopha spilocrossa


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SynonymProteuxoa spilocrossa

Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying and Marilyn Hewish for helping with the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
1st Record in SA on Atlas:

We thought this was Proteuxoa flexirena, but Marilyn thought Thoracolopha verecunda.
Then Axel finally found the correct name

Imaged 7 in Sep(3) & Oct(4)
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Agaristinae); 5 species, 2 from Ellura
Grass Day Moth
Apina callisto


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Other Common NamePasture Day Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming and Don Herbison-Evans for helping with the id of this species for us

While larvae vary greatly in size, these are ~45-50mm long. The female is ~25mm long & ~55mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, will females are filiform.
We Id'ed this species from the first photo of a Larva some time ago. Unfortunately we didn't keep records of this (still learning). But then we recently found the adult and was double checking on Don Herbison-Evan's site when we realised our larva looks different to the photo's on his site.
We almost pulled the photos from our site, but thought we'd ask the man himself.
Don is incredibly helpful and has a reputation of being a nice bloke. So he happily responded back with

"Yes those look like the 3 prothorax stripes of an Apino callisto caterpillar. Of course the real test is to rear it to the adult moth and compare that with the holotype. Individual caterpillars do vary in colour, depending on instar, food, microclimate, genetics, etc (like humans do)."

There's a big lesson here. We can't rely on Larva for a confident id. So in future we will always put a "?" against a species based on larva alone. Also, to re-iterate, identification from photos alone is fraught with difficulty & errors

Notice the strange horn extrusion on it's face.
Imaged 9(1M,1F,7J) in Apr(2:1M,1F), Jul(2J), Aug(4J) & Sep(1J)
Larva1
Larva1, Head & Prothorax
Larva1, Yellow Spots on Rear
Larva2, profile
Larva2, Prothorax
Larva2, Rear Yellow Spot
Larva2, 3 Breathing Holes
Larva2, Front "Real" Legs
Larva2, Rear "Prolegs"
Larva2, 2 Middle Pair of Prolegs
Larva2, Dashed Stripes on the Back
Larva3&4, head of 1 & tail of the other
Larva3&4, following each other
Larva, ventral
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, Head & Antenna
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, profile, wings up
Female, Hindwings
Female, ventral
Mistletoe Moth
Comocrus behri


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Similar Species: Hibbertia Moth (Phalaenoides glycinae)
Thank you Terra Occ for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 3(1J) in Jan(1), Mar(1J) & Oct(1)
Wings up, anterior
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Face
Anterior
Proboscis
Ventral, size, len ~25mm, wingspan ~70mm
Crimson Beauty
Cremnophora angasii


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~14mm long & 35mm wingspan.
The pink colours in this species are quite spectacular, even it's palps are pure pink!
A black & white moth, with a row of crimson spots along the outer margin (trailing) of it's forwings. These spots are visible underneath, but are missing on it's hindwings.
It's front legs also have splashes of crimson around the joints.
To add to the contrast, the antennae are a pale orange / yellow colour.
The female has thread like antennae (as shown here) while males have bipectinate antennae.
Imaged 3(1F,1J) in Apr(1F) & Aug(2:1J)
Female, dorsal, wings spread
Female, dorsal, wings tented
🔍Female, profile
Female, Body
Female, anterior
Female, ventral
Crow Moth
Cruria donowani


iNaturalist
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Similar Species: Hibbertia Moth (Phalaenoides glycinae)
Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 2 in Mar(1) & Dec(1)
Dorsal
Hibbertia Moth
Phalaenoides glycinae


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Other Common NameGrapevine Moth

Similar Species: Mistletoe Moth (Comocrus behri) : Crow Moth (Cruria donowani)
Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 4(1J) in Mar(3) & Dec(1J)
Adult, profile
🔍Adult, ventral
Larva
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Condicinae); 1 species from Ellura
Undescribed Cutworm Moth
Condica sp ES01


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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

These were id'ed for us as Tasmanian Cutworm Moths, but we never felt comfortable with that id, as there were two distinct types. Now we know why

These maybe 3 different species. We've put them all together for now until we learn more about this genus and what separates the species apart. Or they could be the same species.
Imaged 8(1F) in Jan(2), Mar(2), Apr(3:1F) & May(1)
S1, dorsal
🔍S6, dorsal
🔍S7, dorsal
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Heliothinae); 3 species from Ellura
Ruby Owlet Moth
Australothis rubrescens
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Imaged 1 in Sep
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Ventral
Australian Native Budworm
Helicoverpa punctigera


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Other Common NamesCorn Ear Worm, Tomato Grub, Tobacco Budworm or Cotton Bollworm

Thank you Rog Standen & Jack Crosbie for confirming the id of this species for us

Without seeing the hindwings (looking for a pale patch in the trailing black band in H. armigera), it's not possible to differentiate between the introduced H. armigera & this one. None of the specimens, where we have hind wing shots, have been H. armigera on Ellura
Imaged 24(1J) in Jan(8), Feb(1), Mar(2:1J), Aug(1), Sep(5), Oct(2), Nov(2) & Dec(3)
Dorsal
Profile
🔍Black Band on Hind Wings
Ventral
Lesser Budworm
Heliothis punctifera


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Thank you (LifeIsAmazing ) for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 11 in Apr(1), Jul(1), Aug(8) & Oct(1)
🔍S11, Orange Morph, dorsal
S1, Orange Morph, dorsal
S1, Orange Morph, body
S1, Orange Morph, profile
S2, Orange Morph, Hindwings
🔍S3, Brown Morph, dorsal
S4, Faded, dorsal
S4, Faded, anterior
S4, Faded, profile
S4, Faded, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Noctuinae); 11 species from Ellura
Bogong Moth
Agrotis infusa


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Thank you Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

~22mm long, wingspan ~45mm
Imaged 13(8M,2F) in Jan(1), Mar(2:1M), May(3M), Oct(6:3M,2F) & Dec(1M)
S2, Female, Dark Morph, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, Hindwings
S4, Male, Light Morph, dorsal
S4, Male, profile
S4, Male, ventral
Brown Cutworm Moth
Agrotis munda


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Karen Weaving & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~16mm long, wingspan ~36mm
Imaged 48(15M,16F) in Jan(7:2F), Feb(1F), Mar(6:1M,4F), Apr(14:4M,5F), May(1F), Jun(1M), Jul(1), Aug(1M), Sep(6:2M,3F), Oct(2M), Nov(5:3M) & Dec(3:1M)
Male 1, dorsal
Female 1, dorsal
Female 1, dorsal, wings ajar
🔍Female 2, dorsal
Female 10, dorsal
🔍Female, dorsal
Male 2, profile
Female 1, profile
🔍Female, Hindwings
Male 1, Antenna
Female 1, anterior
Female 2, anterior
Male 3, posterior
Female 2, ventral
Tasmanian Cutworm Moth
Dasygaster padockina
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S1 was ~17mm long with wingspan of ~44mm.
Notice the orange side tufts in S1, that were visible to the eye. On closer inspection we notice more orange scales on the face.
Imaged 1 in May
S1, dorsal
S1, profile
S1, tufts
S1, ventral
Pale Cutworm
Ectopatria cf virginea
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Thank you Peter Marriott for identifying this species for us

Peter said it's a tentative id at this stage.
The only specimen we found, in October, was already dead and appears to have been killed by a parasite in it's side (see the ventral view).
Imaged 1 in Oct
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Saltbush Cutworm
Ectopatria horologa


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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

Imaged 15(8F) in Jan(1), Feb(2), Mar(3:1F), May(8:6F) & Aug(1F)
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, dorsal
S4, dorsal
🔍S6, Female, profile
🔍S14, profile
Black Striped Grey Moth
Ectopatria paurogramma


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Length ~24mm, wingspan ~30mm. It seems male & females have filiform antennae, but find anywhere that states this.
Very silvery grey moth with black longitudinal lines.
The cost has 2 dark patches which seem more consistent (in other photo's) than the black lines.
Each wing has an almost imperceptible trailing dark band.
The trailing hindwing has a wavy edge.
Not commonly seen nor collected, but found around the country (including Tasmania). University specimens have been found between Nov to May.
Imaged 1 in Jan
Dorsal
Side
Profile
Anterior
Hindwing Trailing Shape
Ventral
Undescribed Cutworm
Ectopatria sp ES01


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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

~18mm long, with wingspan ~40mm.
We thought these were Ectopatria horologa; some where but these weren't.
We assume the ventral photo's showing fat & thin bodies is due to different genders
Axel said "Undescribed (according to ANIC)".
Imaged 3F in Apr(1F) & May(2F)
S1, dorsal, very worn
S2, dorsal
S2, profile
S2, Hindwings
S2, anterior
S2, Camouflage
S1, ventral, thinner, worn above
S2, ventral, fatter
Single-lined Noctuid
Leucania stenographa
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SynonymMythimna loreyimima

Other Common NameSugar Cane Armyworm

~15mm long, with wingspan ~34mm.
Imaged 2 in Jan(1) & Mar(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Anterior
Leg Spines
Ventral
Armyworm
Mythimna convecta


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Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~22mm long, winspan ~46mm.
We haven't been able to differentiate the genders. These appear to be female based on body shape/roundness.
We've started noticing some moth species with hairy eyes, like here. We've seen this many times before with flies, but not with moths. We'll see if we can get better shots of the hairy eyes in the future.
Imaged 4 in Jan(1), Oct(1) & Dec(2)
S1, dorsal, wings spread
S1, dorsal, wings closed
🔍S2, dorsal
S1, Profile
🔍S2, profile
S1, Partial hindwings
🔍S2, Hindwing
🔍S2, Antenna
🔍S2, Hairy Eyes
S1, ventral
🔍S2, ventral
Inland Armyworm
Persectania dyscrita


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Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

~38mm to ~42mm wingspan.
Nearly identical to P. ewingii, except here in the middle of the forewing there are two pale ellipses that are separated. With P. ewingii they form into one shape (often described as a dagger).
Differentiating the genders is difficult. Males have antennae filaments/hairs that are longer, but not hugely so.
Imaged 15(6M,7F) in Jan(1M), Sep(1F), Oct(1M), Nov(3:1M,1F) & Dec(9:3M,5F)
S5, Male, dorsal
S6, Male, profile, ~18mm
S5, Male, side, above
S5, Male, Body
S5, Male, Hindwings
🔍S7, Female, dorsal
S3, Female, profile
S1, Female, anterior
S3, Female, Body
S3, Female, ventral
S1, Female, ventral, ~23mm
Antenna comparison
S5, Male, ventral
Southern Armyworm
Persectania ewingii


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Thank you Michael Keogh for confirming the id of this species for us

Females are consistently ~44mm wingspan, while males vary a bit from ~40 to ~46mm wingspan.
Females have filiform antennae with some fine hairs under. Males have similar, but are serrated underneath with longer & more sensorary hairs. See the antennae comparison under P. dyscrita above.
Both genders have quite hairy eyes.
Both Persectania species we get here have the 2 black ventral dashes on their abdomen (2 per segment). They vary in length from lines to elongated spots (to no black marks at all in some males). There doesn't seem any relationship between this variation and species. It is much less obvious in males, but some still get them.
Imaged 21(5M,14F) in Jan(2F), Mar(3:1M,2F), Apr(4F), May(1F), Sep(3:2M,1F), Oct(3:1M,1F), Nov(2:1F) & Dec(3:1M,2F)
🔍S20 Female, profile
🔍S09 Male, Antennae & Hairy Eyes
🔍S11 Female, Hindwing
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Owlet moth (:Noctuoidea Noctuidae Plusiinae); 2 species, 1 from Ellura
Woolly-bodied Golden Moth
Chrysodeixis eriosoma


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Other Common NamesGreen Looper or Green Garden Looper

Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~20mm long. Both genders have filiform antennae.
"Green looper", what a lame common name for such an exquisite beast! It's referring to the larval stage. The translated name is much more spectacular, Woolly-body Golden Moth!
As you can see, these moths have strong gold reflections. And what a magnificent Thoracic Crest!
Notice the little tuft further back along the body, as well as at the end/posterir? The wings actually have "spurs" along the inner margin that create these tuft; as such they're not moveable (up & down) like tufts in other moths.
Imaged 4 in Apr(3) & Dec(1)
🔍S2, profile
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S2, Gold Sheen
🔍S2, anterior
🔍S2, Hind Wing
🔍S2, close up
🔍S2, Oselli
🔍S2, Thoracic Crest
🔍S2, ventral
Green Looper
Plusiinae cf sp
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Thank you Don Herbison-Evans for confirming the id of this species for us

Marie found this in a lettuce bought from a shop in April.
It was damaged and died 24 hrs later when we tried to raise it.
Plusiinae is a sub-family, and may be raised to a family status in the future. We were worried it was a new invasion of an exotic, Silver Y (Autographa gamma), yet to be found in Australia
Don said "As a green smooth semi-looper feeding on Asteraceae: I agree that it is likely in Plusiinae, but sadly the larvae like this of species in Plusiinae are variable and nearly indistinguishable."
Imaged 1 in Apr
Profile
Mandibles & Eyes
Feet
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Tuft Moth (:Noctuoidea Nolidae); 5 species from Ellura
Tactile Tuft Moth
Aquita tactalis


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Thank you Axel Kallies & (RattyExplores ) for confirming the id of this species for us

~11mm long, ~32mm wingspan
Imaged 6 in Jan(1), Mar(1), Apr(1) & Oct(3)
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S3, dorsal
🔍S2, profile
🔍S3, profile
🔍S3, Crest, profile
🔍S3, Crest, anterior
🔍S3, Scales, close up
Pale Earias
Earias chlorodes
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It is similar to some Phytometra, but they have thicker legs, longer palps & more triangular wings.
As the name suggests (chlorodes) they can be green, but generally seem to be pale yellow/off white.
Difficult to id with no lines or patterns whatsoever, id has to be made via physical attributes (large eyes kicking off the diagnostic filters

Imaged 2 in Mar(1) & Dec(1)
S2, dorsal
S2, profile
S3, dorsal
S3, profile
Western Tuft-moth
Nola celaenephes
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~7mm long, ~22mm wingspan. Males & females both have filiform antennae
Imaged 2 in Oct
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Well-beaked Tuft-moth
Nola eurrhyncha


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Thank you Dezmond Wells for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 3 in Jan(1), Mar(1) & Sep(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Eyelashes
Ventral
Gumleaf Skeletoniser
Uraba lugens


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Thank you Rog Standen for confirming the id of this species for us

The main diagnostic features of the larvae are: Small (around 4mm), very hairy (long), 4 rows of yellow dots and they eat / live on the surfaces of gum leaves
Very variable skin colour; as can be seen. As well as orange or black heads.
The adults have a distinctive, mid-wing, horizontal line that separates them from any close relatives.
They are generally a dull (ie not shiny) looking grey moth, with males & females looking similar.
Males have bipectinate antennae, with females having filiform.
Note the various scale tufts on the female's wings. In fact much of the mid-wing line look raised. These are also present on the male, just weren't as visible in our photo's.
Imaged 21(3M,1F,14J) in Feb(1J), Mar(1F), Jul(3J), Aug(6J), Sep(3J) & Nov(7:3M,1J)
S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S2, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, profile
S1, Female, profile
S1, Female, Hindwings
S3, Male, Hindwings
S4, Male, Hindwings
S1, Female, ventral
S2, Male, ventral
Larvae, Close up on one
Larvae, Orange Head
Larvae, Black one with others
Larvae, Different sizes
🔍Larvae, Perspective
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Oakworm (:Noctuoidea Notodontidae); 6 species, 5 from Ellura
Patterned Notodontid
Aglaosoma cf variegata


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Thank you Ethan Beaver & Peri Coleman for confirming the id of this species for us

~63mm long, found on Bullock Bush (Alectryon oleifolius).
Imaged 2J in Sep(1J) & Oct(1J)
🔍Larva, dorsal
🔍Larva, profile
🔍Larva, Tufts
🔍Larva, Legs, Spiracles, etc
Prominent Zig-zag Moth
Commonia hesychima


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Axel Kallies & Simon Ong for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~16mm long & ~37mm wingspan. Males & Females are similar size.
Males have strongly bi-pectinate antennae, where as females have filiform.
S2, Female, here was very worn, but is the parent of the eggs.
These are a fairly rare moth and are found from WA, thru SA into Western Victoria.
What can appear to be heavy notches in the trailing edge of the forwing are actually white scales between darker scales.
Hindwings are pale to off-while with no obvious pattern, but we weren't able to get a photo.
Imaged 32(1M,2F) in Mar(30:1F,29E) & May(2:1M,1F)
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S2, Female, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, profile
🔍S3, Male, Antennae, profile
🔍S3, Male, Antennae, dorsal
🔍S3, Male, Palps
🔍S2, Eggs
🔍S2, Mother with Eggs
🔍S3, Male, ventral
Streaked Notodontid Moth
Destolmia lineata


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Thank you Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

~22mm long
Imaged 2 in Jan
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Hind Wing
🔍Antenna
🔍Anterior
🔍Ventral
Ochre Rough-head
Hylaeora dilucida


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~82mm wingspan. This is a very large moth, so spent quite a bit of time hunting through the Ghost moth family looking for it. Of course it's in a totally different family.
Imaged 3(1M,1F) in Apr
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, forewing
🔍Male, hindwings
🔍Male, Blue Reflective Patches
🔍Male, anterior
Undescribed Rough-head
Hylaeora MoV1


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

This is figured in Moths of Victoria (MoV) part 2 as Hylaeora sp. (1)
~30mm long, ~70mm wingspan. Males have bipectinate antennae, while females have filiform antennae.
These have a complex of colour shades on the forewing. A stark white streak near front of the inner margin. At the back is a large triangular dark patch separated from the rest of the dark grey wing by a thick, very pale, line. It's almost indistinguishable, but definately there to the naked eye; photographing it is another matter. As with other Rough-heads the back of the neck is a complex array of large bluish scales.
The overall colours & patterns are reminiscent of sap on bark of a Mallee Tree; the body matching the ochre colour of a broken limb.
As with other members of this family, it plays dead a lot, curling up & exposing it's ochre body.
Came to night light, but was on the ground.
Imaged 1M in Mar
🔍Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
🔍Male, Playing Dead
🔍Male, Hindwing
🔍Male, anterior
🔍Male, Ochre Body
🔍Male, ventral
Bag Shelter Moth
Ochrogaster lunifer


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Other Common NameProcessionary Caterpillar

Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us

Thank you Ethan Beaver for noting special characteristics of this species for us

See individual photo's for more information.
Head & body ~18mm, wingspan ~45mm (ours all seem to be similar size). Males & females have bipectinate antennae, with males having much longer (obvious to the naked eye) pectinations.
Caterpillars in our area seem very green to most other images. While male adult wing patterns vary considerably, they generally seem to be a subset of the most heavily marked specimens. At most a black transverse wavy line, with many white longitudinal lines; with at the least a tiny white spot. Females seem to only have a white spot, not white stripes. All our specimens have the same dull brown background, where as others vary between nearly black to ochre coloured backgrounds (Ethan's collection indicates strong geographic variation of the background colour, as well as size). It is considered these are a species complex. He even has a specimen with no orange on the abdomen!
Gender cannot be reliably determined from their posterial white scales, as these wear off and possibly vary in colour (in males). Ethan told us that these white scales are used to protect the eggs. He said "they form such a dense coating that ants and other small creatures cannot dislodge them to reach the eggs". The antennae, which are often well hidden, are the only reliable form of separation (but a striped specimen is most likely a male and a specimen with bulbous white "tail" will be a female).
Imaged 42(17M,6F,18J) in Jan(3J), Feb(2J), Mar(3J), Apr(7J), May(2J), Jun(1J), Sep(1M), Oct(21:15M,5F), Nov(1F) & Dec(1M)
Video:
A 28 processionary caterpillar train, about 1m long. We've seen a train up to 2m (5Mb)
A small processionary caterpillar train, up close showing the "connections" (11Mb)
The silken trail of Bag shelter moth larva between their food tree and their shelter bag (16Mb)
A lot of Bag shelter moth larvae (16Mb)
Larva, Head & dorsal
Larva, profile & Feet
Larva, Skin
Larva, Hairy Face
Larva, Spiracles
Larva, ventral
Larvae, The Canteen
Larvae, Food Orgy
Larvae, Off to safety
Larvae, The silken road home
Larvae, The front door
Larvae, Home is where the bag is
Larvae, Silken Trail
Larvae, Ground Procession
Larvae, Hairy connection
Pupa
Female S1, anterior
Female S1, profile
Female S2, Hindwings
Female S2, Body
Female S6, Posterial scales used
🔍Female S12, Antenna
Male S14, dorsal
🔍Male S21, dorsal
🔍Male S8, dorsal
🔍Male S20, dorsal, worn
Male S3, dorsal, worn, & hindwings
Male S19, profile
Male S22, anterior
Male S14, Body, with posterial scales
Male S22, Body, posterial scales worn
Male S14, Antennae
Male S19, Underwing - dappled
Male S23, Underwing - plain
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Snub Moth (:Noctuoidea Oenosandridae); 2 species from Ellura
Bat-eared Snub-moth
Discophlebia ANIC1


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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

~17mm long, ~37mm wingspan.
Orange tail, white hindwings with dark scales & dark long hairs on the costa & inner edge.
Notice the "fork tipped scales".
These sit with their head folded down & in, making it very difficult to see their eyes. They have 2 crests, which resemble bat-ears.
While we recognised these as Discophlebia, Alex kindly matched them to the ANIC sp 1 specimens. As such, it's known about but undescribed.
Imaged 3 in Mar
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S2, profile
🔍S2, Antenna
🔍S2, Hindwing
🔍S2, Orange Tail
🔍S2, Dual Crests
🔍S2, anterior
🔍S2, Forked Scales
🔍S2, Face
🔍S2, ventral
Boisduval's Autumn Moth
Oenosandra boisduvalii


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Thank you Matt Campbell & Geoffrey Cox for confirming the id of this species for us

The males & females of these are VERY different, you wouldn't recognise them as the same species. The female has a very white base colour, where as the male is more grey; and the orange flecks on the spread out rather than being in the narrow black region like with the females.
Imaged 11(7M,3F,1J) in Mar(7:5M,2F), Apr(3:2M,1F) & Aug(1J)
Male, Adult, dorsal
Male, Adult, profile
Male, Adult, anterior
🔍Male, Adult, dorsal
🔍Male, Adult, profile
🔍Male, Adult, anterior
🔍Male, Adult, ventral
🔍Female, Adult, dorsal
🔍Female, Adult, profile
🔍Female, Adult, profile
🔍Female, Adult, ventral
🔍Larva, dorsal
🔍Larva, profile
🔍Larva, Eyes
🔍Larva, posterior
🔍Larva, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Plume Moth (:Pterophorioidea Pterophoridae); 4 species from Ellura
Spotted Wide-winged Plume Moth
Platyptilia celidotus


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & (BaronSamedi ) for confirming the id of this species for us

There were 2 specimens on the night that came to a night light.
Based on body shape we assume the 1st is a female, and the 2nd specimen a male.
While the antennae look the same, the male has less dark banding and much longer wing hair like scales.
Imaged 3(1M,1F) in Jan(1) & Jul(2:1M,1F)
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
🔍S1, Female, profile
🔍S3, Female, profile
🔍S1, Female, Head, dorsal
🔍S1, Female, Head & Palps
🔍S1, Female, Wing
🔍S1, Female, Abdomen
🔍S2, Male, Wing "hair"
Xerodes Plume Moth
Stangeia xerodes


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Thank you Dee Nolan for confirming the id of this species for us

~10mm Wingspan, ~4.5mm long.
Donald Hobern said "The easiest way to tell them apart" from Megalorhipida leucodactylus " with fresh specimens is to look at the black and white (or brown and white) lines down the hind legs. On xerodes, they run parallel along the top edge. On leucodactylus, they corkscrew near the joints."
Imaged 7 in Jan(2), Feb(1), Sep(1) & Oct(3)
S1, dorsal
🔍S4, dorsal & Abdomen
🔍S6, dorsal & Abdomen
🔍S5, profile
🔍S4, Wing Shape & Pattern
🔍S6, Wing Shape & Pattern
Dowdy Plume Moth
Stenoptilia zophodactylus


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Thank you Greg Bellion for confirming the id of this species for us

~23mm wingspan & ~8mm long.
There doesn't seem to be a way to visually separate the genders.
Imaged 5 in Feb(4) & Dec(1)
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S1, Forewing
🔍S1, Abdomen
🔍S1, anterior
Horehound Plume Moth
Wheeleria spilodactylus


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Thank you Donald Hobern for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long, ~17mm natural wingspan.
It has striped legs and striped wings.
Imaged 9(2J) in Jan(1), Feb(1), Mar(3:1J), Oct(3) & Dec(1J)
🔍Adult, dorsal
🔍Adult, anterior
🔍Adult, Wings
🔍Adult, Wing
🔍Adult, Body
🔍Larva, Dorsal
🔍Larva, Profile
Larva, Eyes
🔍Larva, Leaf Damage
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Crambid Snout Moth (:Pyraloidea Crambidae); 35 species, 29 from Ellura
Saltbush Web Spinner
Achyra affinitalis


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Other Common NameCotton Web Spinner

Thank you Dianne Clarke for confirming the id of this species for us

It's interesting that the brown morphs were photographed in the Adelaide Hills. The Red Morphs were photographed in the Murray Mallee, with a propensity for red sandy loam; suggesting a camouflage variation for local areas.
Body & head length ~10mm & wingspan ~24mm
Imaged 61 in Jan(5), Feb(13), Mar(12), Apr(7), May(2), Jul(1), Aug(4), Sep(10), Oct(4), Nov(2) & Dec(1)
Dark Brown Morph, dorsal
Dark Brown Morph, profile
Light Brown Morph, dorsal
Light Red Morph, dorsal
Light Red Morph, dorsal
Light Red Morph, profile
Dark Red Morph, dorsal
Dark Red Morph, profile
Dark Red Morph, partial Hindwing
Dark Red Morph, very worn
🔍Dark Red Morph, scales
🔍Dark Red Morph, head, close up
Dark Red Morph, antenna
Light Brown Morph, ventral
Black-stigmata Moth
Achyra nigrirenalis


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Imaged 1 in Jan
🔍Dorsal
Small-kite Moth
Autarotis milvellus


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~6mm long, ~14mm wingspan.
They look like small Metallarcha thiophara & some Hednota sp moths.
Imaged 6 in Mar(5) & Apr(1)
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S2, profile
🔍S3, profile
🔍S1, Hind wings
S4, ventral
Delicate Pearl Moth
Criophthona finitima


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Came to Victor's Memorial Night Light
Imaged 2 in Jan(1) & Feb(1)
🔍S1, dorsal
Eastern Black Tabby
Diplopseustis perieresalis


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long, ~20mm wingspan.
Imaged 1 in Feb
🔍Dorsal
White Patched Crambid
Eclipsiodes homora
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Similar Species: Bird-wing Moth (Uresiphita ornithopteralis)
~7mm long & ~17mm wingspan.
Very shiny scales, so difficult to get photo's to highlight the white patch as oposed to reflective glare. It has stunning orange hindwings, with a thick black trailing border.
While this superficially looks like a Wattle Moth, it is much smaller.
The body has an orange band as well, but this doesn't seem to be consistent across on-line images. In Bold BINS there are 4 records describing this species, which indicates it's a species complex. Eurhythma sp. ANIC6 & Eurhythma sp. 6 (as figured on Bold V3) have the same DNA markers.
Imaged 2 in Oct
Dorsal - with flash
Dorsal - no flash
Hindwings
Anterior
Ventral
Azolla Caseworm
Elophila responsalis


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SynonymsDiasemia responsalis or Nymphula responsalis

2nd Record in SA on Atlas:
~7mm long & ~17mm wingspan.
A very pretty moth with indistinct white lines separating black & orange patches.
It seems to be very variable. Originally found in Qld, but has travelled down the Eastern seaboard and along the Murray into SA. This is only the second specimen found in SA that we can find.
Imaged 2 in Jan(1) & Mar(1)
🔍Dorsal, showing Hindwing
🔍Ventral
White Streaked Crambid
Eudonia cleodoralis


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SynonymScoparia cleodoralis

Thank you Abbey Throssell for identifying, Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Michael Keogh for confirming and David Akers for helping with the id of this species for us

The usual diagnostic feature of having different antennae does not seem to separate out the genders with this species. We have assumed the fatter body is female.
There is a write up here on how there was confusion between these & Nechilo macrogona
Imaged 13(8M,2F) in Feb(2:1M,1F), Mar(1F), Aug(6:5M), Oct(2:1M) & Nov(2:1M)
Patchy white palps
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
Female, ventral
Male, dorsal
Male, Hindwing
Male, ventral
Yellow Striped Crambid
Glaucocharis dilatella


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Other Common NameOcellated Web Moth

Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

A stunning little moth on screen, yet nondescript to the naked eye.
Generally sits with it's legs forward and antennae laid back over it's body.
Large scaly palps held out forward making quite a snout
The forewings wings trail with longitudinal short yellow stripes separated by black marks. Followed by metallic silver, black, then silver transverse stripes.
Imaged 5 in Oct(3) & Nov(2)
🔍Dorsal, length ~10mm, wingspan ~15mm
Profile
Palps
🔍Camouflage
Double-striped Grass Moth
Hednota bivittella


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Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

Very large specimen. Considered to be ~30mm wingspan, this one is ~42mm wingspan
Based on body shape, we think it's a female.
You can understand why we thought this one was a cousin of Angled Satin Moth (thalaina angulosa), a Thalaina tetraclada. We were quite exited as we thought it was the most Eastern record of this species.
But no, it's not even a Geometrid; you can tell by the massive, great big hooter!
It's a Crambidae, a totally different family.
Imaged 1 in Apr
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Wings Open
🔍Ventral
White-marked Webworm
Hednota crypsichroa


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long, ~25mm wingspan.
Imaged 3 in Mar(1) & Apr(2)
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
Round-marked Grass Webworm
Hednota cyclosema


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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

Thank you Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Wingspan ~20mm
Imaged 24 in Mar(11) & Apr(13)
Dorsal
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Profile
Anterior
Ventral
🔍Antennae
Grass Webworm
Hednota enchias
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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

~10mm long, ~21mm wingspan.
White & brown striped with black bars on the trailing forewings, with dark speckles receding towards the front.
It is very similar to Hednota koojanensis, but that species has a straighter mid-line.
Imaged 2 in Mar
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Metallic Grass Webworm
Hednota eremenopa
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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

Wingspan ~20mm
Imaged 6(2M,2F) in Mar(3:2M) & Apr(3:2F)
Dorsal
🔍Profile
3 Bars on wing
Anterior
Ventral
Grass Webworm
Hednota grammellus


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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

Thank you Matt Campbell for identifying this species for us

Wingspan ~30mm
Looks very similar to Hednota opulentellus; which we thought it was originally.
Ken Harris said "The white stripe just inside the leading edge is continuous. In H. opulentellus, there are two white striped overlapping half-way along the wing".
Imaged 10 in Mar(8) & Apr(2)
Profile
Profile
🔍Profile
Ventral
Serrated Antennae Webworm
Hednota impletellus


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~12mm long, ~27mm wingspan.
Imaged 1 in Mar
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
Long-palped Webworm
Hednota longipalpella


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Thank you Catherine (CPye3381) for confirming the id of this species for us

~13mm long, ~26mm wingspan.
Note the difference between the 2 profile shots. They are of the same specimen, just one is reversed. We always prepare photo's with the head to the left. However, the side that is most "worn" also has a lot more black scales near the rear of the forewing than the other side. Possibly a strange wear pattern, or possibly asymetric. This is also evident from the dorsal shot.
Imaged 1 in Mar
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile, worn
🔍Profile
🔍Ventral
Broken Line Grass Webworm
Hednota panteucha
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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

~12mm long, ~27mm wingspan. Bipectinate antennae.
Very long palps & legs. It's almost spider-like.
Imaged 3(2M,1F) in Mar(1M) & Apr(2:1M,1F)
Dorsal
Profile
Wings Splayed
Wings Wrapped
Ventral
Black Grass Webworm
Hednota pedionoma
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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

Wingspan ~24mm
Imaged 5 in Apr(4) & May(1)
S1, Profile
S2, Dorsal
S2, Dorsal, spread wings
S2, Profile
S2, Anterior
S1, Ventral
Grass Webworm
Hednota relatalis
Na
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Other Common NamePasture Webworm

Wingspan ~27mm
Imaged 3 in Feb(2) & Mar(1)
S1, In Nature
S2, Profile
S2, Ventral
Beautiful-skinned Snout Moth
Hednotodes callichroa


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Thank you Mark Hura for identifying and Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

~10mm long, ~22m wingspan.
Imaged 5 in Jan(1), Oct(2), Nov(1) & Dec(1)
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S2, profile
🔍S3, profile
🔍S2, ventral
🔍S3, ventral
Cabbage Centre Grub Moth
Hellula hydralis


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

We are staggered with the variations in the colours of some moths. We indicate they are different morphs in our site here to help people id them, but it's possible they fade. Fading is different to wearing. Some moth scales wear off and you can see their "skin" were all the scales have worn. This can make id difficult where the scale with patterns don't exist. Others can loose large chunks of their trailing wings, which can hold diagnostic patterns. And then, like here, they can have massive variations in the darkness of the scales, but the lines are just visible to id the moth; barely.
Having changed all our common names of moths whose larvae feed on agricultural plants to their native plant food, we are unable to do this with this species. It caterpillars feed on Brassicaceae, with no natives in this plant family in the region. As such, we can assume we only see them due to the copious infestations of Ward's Weed, etc, throughout the Murraylands.
Imaged 43 in Jan(4), Feb(3), Mar(6), Apr(6), May(7), Jul(3), Aug(2), Sep(7), Oct(3), Nov(1) & Dec(1)
Profile
Dark Morph, partial Hindwing
Medium Morph, dorsal
Pale Morph, dorsal
Pond Moth
Hygraula nitens


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Thank you Dion Maple for confirming the id of this species for us

~7mm long, ~15mm wingspan. A small, typical crambid shaped moth.
The one we found was quite pale compared to some other on-line photo's. Basically brown with white lateral streaks.
Imaged 6 in Jan(1), Mar(2), Apr(1) & Dec(2)
S1, dorsal
🔍S6, dorsal
S1, profile
S1, ventral
Metallarcha Moth
Metallarcha beatalis


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SynonymBotys beatalis

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
It seems there are two types of this species. It's possible it's gender, but that's not clear. Our "Type 1" doesn't have solid bars on the fore-wings. Our "Type 2" does.
Imaged 17 in Sep(6), Oct(10) & Nov(1)
Type 1, Hindwing, wingspan ~28mm
Type 1, dorsal
Type 1, Head profile
Type 1, ventral
Type 1, outside
Type 2, Hindwings
Type 2, dorsal
Type 2, profile
Type 2, ventral
Metallarcha Moth
Metallarcha calliaspis


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Wingspan ~24mm
Imaged 18 in Jan(6), Mar(2), Oct(4), Nov(3) & Dec(3)
S3, dorsal & Hindwings
S3, profile
🔍S10, profile
S3, Head
S1, anterior
S2, Camouflage
S3, ventral
Golden Metallarcha Moth
Metallarcha diplochrysa


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Thank you Dr Ken Walker for identifying and Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 6 in Mar(1), Sep(1) & Oct(4)
Dorsal, ~10mm
Ventral
Western Metallarcha Moth
Metallarcha pseliota


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Thank you Mark Hura & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long, ~18mm wingspan.
Typical looking metallarcha with orange & black hingwings. Forwings are black with 3 large rectangular white patches and 7 trailing orange spots.
Imaged 2 in Jan(1) & Feb(1)
S1, dorsal, Hindwings
🔍S2, dorsal
S1, profile
S1, ventral
Metallarcha Moth
Metallarcha thiophara
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Imaged 16(1M,1F) in Feb(5), Mar(8:1M,1F), Apr(2) & Nov(1)
Dorsal
Profile
White Dashed Crambid
Metasia capnochroa


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 4 in Jan(3) & Feb(1)
Posterior, ~6mm
Ventral, wingspan ~15mm
Antler Moth
Nacoleia rhoeoalis
Na
a
SynonymBotys hypsidesalis

Imaged 1 in Dec
Dorsal, ~7mm
Profile
Profile
Anterior
Antenna
Ventral, wingspan ~16mm
Spotted Crambid
Nomophila corticalis


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

We haven't been able to separate genders out, both looking the same.
These are highly variable in shade & colour, from VERY pale grey (but not worn), through darker browns, to having a touch of orange patching on some.
We've seen them during the day, walking around Ellura, as well as night lights.
Imaged 16 in Jan(3), Feb(1), Mar(1), Aug(2), Sep(5) & Oct(4)
S1, dorsal
S4, dorsal, Wings out
S5, dorsal
🔍S6, dorsal
🔍S7, dorsal
🔍S11, dorsal
🔍S12, dorsal
🔍S15, dorsal
S4, profile
🔍S6, profile
🔍S7, profile
🔍S12, profile
🔍S15, profile
S4, Antenna
🔍S11, Hindwing
🔍S6, ventral
🔍S7, ventral
🔍S11, ventral
🔍S15, ventral
Solanum Moth
Sceliodes cordalis


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SynonymLeucinodes cordalis

Other Common NamesEggfruit Caterpillar or Poroporo Fruit Borer

Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long & ~20mm wingspan.
A very peculiar moth.
They are an Australian native, also found overseas.
Imaged 2 in Feb(1) & Oct(1)
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S2, profile
🔍S2, anterior
🔍S2, ventral
Black & White Crambid
Scoparia exhibitalis


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Other Common NameBlack and White Crambid

Thank you Don Herbison-Evans for identifying this species for us

~9mm long, wingspan ~20mm
Imaged 4 in Oct
S1, dorsal
S2, dorsal
S3, profile
S1, palps
S1, ventral
Stunning Crambid
Syntonarcha sp


iNaturalist
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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for identifying and Peter Crowcroft for helping with the id of this species for us

~12mm long. Very rare as there is only one other photo of this species we've seen; so undescribed.
Imaged 1 in Jan
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Ventral
Bird-wing Moth
Uresiphita ornithopteralis


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameTree Lucerne Moth

Similar Species: White Patched Crambid (Eclipsiodes homora)
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

A deceptively large moth, ~18mm long & ~34mm wingspan.
They have two colour forms. The ones we've seen have a general reddish brown colour with thick white legs being the most distinguishing feature; until you see their windwings. Brilliant orange, offset by a thick black trailing band. Underneath their wings are generally pale yellow with a pink section along the costa of both wings, much thicker on the hindwings extending to almost half the wing.
Imaged 11 in Jan(1), Apr(1), May(1), Aug(1), Sep(6) & Dec(1)
S2, Dark Form, dorsal
🔍S3, Pale Form, dorsal
🔍S7, Dark Form, dorsal
🔍S5, Dark Form, profile
🔍S7, Dark Form, Hindwings
S2, Dark Form, Head
🔍S7, Dark Form, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Grass Moth (:Pyraloidea Pyralidae); 18 species, 17 from Ellura
Variable Bent-wing
Araeopaschia cf sp
Na
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This has been a very difficult species to id.
As always, please only take our id's as a starting point for your own reseach.
Imaged 2 in Nov
Dorsal, ~10mm
Profile, wingspan ~25mm
Anterior, note the ocullus
Ventral
White Streaked Pyralid
Assara holophragma
Na
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Imaged 1 in Feb
Profile
Mourning Pyralid Moth
Catamola funerea


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Don Herbison-Evans for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Oct
🔍
Almella Frass Moth
Ctenomeristis almella


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ned Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us

~10mm long & ~23mm wingspan.
The males antennae are uni-pectinate, females are filiform.
The lines are often very "broken" or patchy making id difficult as the missing areas of line are not diagnostic. It has very short upturned palps. The front of the main lines, towards the head & middle of the wing, can be turned up in tufts as shown here.
The hindwings are pale yellow from under, but we couldn't get a top shot of the hindwings which are plain with a simple line running along the trailing edge.
Imaged 17(9M,2F) in Jan(4:1M), Feb(1F), Mar(2M), Apr(3:2M,1F), Sep(3:1M), Oct(3:2M) & Nov(1M)
🔍Male, dorsal
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, Tufts
Male, ventral
Steaked Pyralid Moth
Enchesphora ANIC11


iNaturalist
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SynonymSalma ANIC11

~15mm long, ~29mm wingspan.
Notice these have very unusual antennal joints to the head; it's like a forked projection. We suspect they are scales wrapping the base of the antennae.
Imaged 1 in Jan
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S1, profile
🔍S1, Iso-view
🔍S1, Hindwings
🔍S1, Head, dorsal
🔍S1, Head, profile
🔍S1, Antenna
🔍S1, ventral
Tufted Pyralid Moth
Enchesphora brachypalpia


iNaturalist
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SynonymsPoliopaschia brachypalpia or Salma brachypalpia

Thank you Axel Kallies & Rog Standen for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~12mm long & ~28mm wingspan. Gender is not normally separated out with antennae with these Pyralid moths. As such we suspect this is a female by body shape, but aren't sure.
What a spectacular moth with tufts going in all directions! This is a perfect example of why we need to take the profile shots. We even took 2 here to give slightly different aspects of the tufts.
A pretty moth with white splashes under the tufts, mainly grey & brown mottling, with black scaloping lines towards the trailing of the forewing.
Under the hindwings we see primarily cream coloured wings, each with a dark brown trailing band, a central spot and faint zig zag line between.
Imaged 6 in Jan(2), Feb(1), Mar(2) & Nov(1)
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
S1, profile
🔍S1, anterior
🔍S2, Antennae
🔍S1, ventral
Unnamed Pyralid Moth
Enchesphora sp ES01


iNaturalist
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SynonymSalma sp

Imaged 1 in Jan.
Imaged 1 in Jan
🔍S1, dorsal
Legume Moth
Endotricha puncticostalis


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

~8mm long, ~15mm wingspan.
Did the whole "curling the body up" trick when we found it, but couldn't get a photo of it.
Imaged 1M in Mar
🔍S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S1, Male, profile
🔍S1, Male, Hindwing & Body
🔍S1, Male, ventral
Small Tabby
Etiella behrii


iNaturalist
Na
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Imaged 12(6M,2F) in Jan(1M), Feb(3:2M), Mar(1F), Apr(1M), Sep(1), Oct(3:1F) & Dec(2M)
Female, dorsal
Male, profile
🔍Male, anterior
🔍Male, Palps
🔍Male, Antenna
Male, Very Worn
Male, ventral
Striped Snout Moth
Etiella chrysoporella


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 3 in Oct(2) & Nov(1)
Slight Profile
Dorsal
Greater Wax Moth
Galleria mellonella


iNaturalist
If
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~14mm long, ~33mm wingspan.
Imaged 1 in Nov
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Anterior
Hindwing
Upper Abdomen
🔍Ventral
Grey Snout Moth
Meyrickiella homosema


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~8mm long & ~19mm wingspan.
A very distinctive little moth where the palps turn up sharply making the face look quite square.
A grey dappled appearance with indistinct pale yellow longitudinal stripes that look more like wear than scale colour (but they are coloured scales)
Imaged 7 in Mar(1), Jul(1), Sep(2), Oct(2) & Nov(1)
S3, dorsal
S1, profile
S2, profile
S3, profile
S3, profile, no flash
S5, profile
S6, profile
S3, anterior
S3, ventral
False-tongue Moth
Mimaglossa habitalis


iNaturalist
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~18mm long, wingspan ~40mm
Imaged 1 in Nov
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Palps, ventral
🔍Ventral
One-eyed Moth
Mimaglossa nauplialis


iNaturalist
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Looks very similar to M. habitalis, but M. habitalis has a wingspan of ~40mm, M. nauplialis has a wing span of out 25mm, which is the size of those in these photos.
Imaged 15 in Mar(3), Apr(4), May(1), Oct(1), Nov(3) & Dec(3)
🔍Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Body + Hindwings
More Hindwings
Red-blotched Pyralid
Morosaphycita poliochyta


iNaturalist
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Thank you Dr Paul Whitington for identifying this species for us

~12mm long
We originally thought this was Morosaphycita oculiferella.
Imaged 5 in Jan(1), Mar(2), Apr(1) & Sep(1)
🔍S1, dorsal
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S5, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S2, profile
🔍S5, profile
🔍S5, iso-view
Teatree Web Moth
Orthaga thyrisalis


iNaturalist
Na
a
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long
Imaged 1 in Feb
🔍Dorsal
Indian Meal Moth
Plodia interpunctella


iNaturalist
If
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Other Common NamesIndianmeal Moth or Indian-meal Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~7mm long, ~17mm wingspan
Imaged 1 in Dec
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Ventral
Black Pyralid
Stericta carbonalis
Na
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Imaged 7 in Jan(1), Feb(2), Mar(3) & Dec(1)
S2, Deceased, dorsal
S4, Deceased, dorsal
S4, Deceased, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Case Moth (:Tineoidea Psychidae); 7 species, 6 from Ellura
Scruffy Case Moth
Ardiosteres moretonella


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

These scruffy looking moths look almost spiky due to the number of scales randomly protruding from the body & wings.
~9mm head & body length, ~22m wingspan.
Imaged 11 in Mar(8) & Apr(3)
S1, Dorsal
S1, Profile
S2, Partial Hindwing
S1, Anterior
S1, Ventral
Faggot Case Moth
Clania ignobilis


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying and David Muirhead & Leonie Kirchmajer for confirming the id of this species for us

It was previously considered the species could be identified by the unevenness (or evenness) of the sticks on the case; however this has been shown to be incorrect.
Thanks to Nina Maurovic for letting use know a "faggot" means a bundle of sticks.
These are parasitised by flies, as shown here: Parasitic Fly (Tritaxys sp)
We asked Ethan how he was able to determine the id to species he said "C. ignobilis can only be identified as such in your sighting because the only other spp with similar structures (C. lewinii and Euneta spp) do not occur in the SA mallee regions and are instead restricted to higher rainfall areas along the coast and ranges"
Further "Generally speaking C. lewinii selects rougher sticks and creates smaller cases on average, particularly the males, but it's not something easy to pick without the two side by side, and variation will be present due to host plant availability"
Imaged 4(3J) in Feb(1J), Jul(1J) & Oct(2:1J)
🔍Partially constructed case
Completed Case
Case Moth
Lepidoscia cf euryptera
Na
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~8mm long & ~17mm wingspan, with filiform antennae
Imaged 4 in Apr
S2, dorsal
S2, profile
S4, Hindwing
S3, ventral
Case Moth
Lepidoscia heliochares


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Michael Keogh for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
We were very excited with this find as it was the first adult specimen of a case we had found. Yet were very family with seeing the cases hanging from bushes as we walk Ellura.
Imaged 3 in Mar(1), Apr(1) & Jul(1)
Profile, ~10mm
Dorsal & Hindwing
Anterior
Ventral
Dorsal
Case Moth
Lomera sp ES01


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying this species for us

We suspected this is the Leaf Case Moth (Hyalarcta huebneri), but weren't sure.
Ethan said "the pattern of the larva is different (to the other Lomera he id'ed) so I can't say for certain if they are different species or different ages". Since we found them in very different area's we have labelled as separate species, more for web site layout than any other reason.
Imaged 1J in Sep
🔍Larva, On the Move
🔍Larva, Front
🔍Larva, Casing & Size
Messy-case Moth
Lomera sp ES02


iNaturalist
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying this species for us

The case is ~15mm.
The larvae have very strong legs compared to most, as well as well developed antennae.
We thought this was Metura sp.
Imaged 1 in Oct
🔍Dorsal
Profile, Strong Legs
Anatomy
🔍Case
🔍Perspective
Tiny Case Moth
Psychidae sp ES01


iNaturalist
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Thank you Andy Young for identifying this species for us

Wingspan ~8mm, body length ~3.5mm.
Clear wings, with some dark scaly hairs. Body has some white scaly hairs as well.
Notice the setae at the front of the hindwing, that goes into a "pocket" on the forewing. When we asked what that was Andy said: "That spur and reticulum arrangement that co-joins the wings is the frenulum. It's quite a handy taxonomic feature: if you look in Moths of Australia, it is often included in character matrix for diagnosing the various Families. "
Andy highlighted these moths to us, which he & Richard Glatz found when surveying moths near Banrock at night sheets last year; using MV light source.
It's undescribed and if studied will probably lead to a new genus to place it in.
They come just after proper dark. Between 6:30pm & 7:00pm.
Imaged 9M in Apr
🔍S3, Dorsal
🔍S1, Profile, Frenulum
S1, Profile
S1, Antennae
🔍S3, Frenulum, from under
🔍S3, Mouth
S1, Anal appendages
S1, Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Tineid Moth (:Tineoidea Tineidae); 3 species from Ellura
Yellow & Purple Clothes Moth
Edosa meliphanes


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameYellow and Purple Clothes Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Imaged 2 in Oct(1) & Nov(1)
Bird Nest Moth
Monopis crocicapitella


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameBlack and brown tineid

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Rebecca Hamdorf for confirming the id of this species for us

Tineids usually eat dead organic matter, like clothes, and in this case Bird's Nests
Imaged 4 in Jan(1), Sep(1), Oct(1) & Nov(1)
Dorsal
🔍Profile
Head
Ventral
Tineid Case Moth
Tineidae sp
Na
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Thank you Ethan Beaver for helping with the id of this species for us

This is a most unusual Case moth as it's case is made of sand. We thought it was a caddisfly, but they are aquatic and the head of this is not that of a caddisfly but of some type of caterpillar.
We then thought it was a Case moth (Psychidae), but they don't make their cases out of sand.
Finally we found this family makes cases out of all sorts of things, including sand.
The most well known is the introduced clothes moth (Tinea pellionella) but would be surprised those could survive the semi-arid conditions. Many species in this family make cases.
Ethan said "Sand and small pebble designs are not uncommon but are rarely recorded because they are so cryptic."
Imaged 7J in Feb(1J), Mar(1J), Sep(2J), Oct(2J) & Nov(1J)
Larva, On the Move
Larva, Front
Larva, Casing
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Tortrix Moth (:Tortricoidea Tortricidae); 16 species, 13 from Ellura
Tortrix Moth
Anisogona similana


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 2 in Oct
Dorsal, ~10mm
Profile
Head
Red Leaf Roller
Capua intractana


iNaturalist
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Imaged 3 in Aug(1), Sep(1) & Oct(1)
Dorsal, ~8mm
Ventral
Sida Tipworm Moth
Crocidosema plebejana


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameCotton Tipworm Moth

Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us

We have no cotton in SA, but this species is still found. It's caterpillars feed on Malvaceae. Limestone Sida & Clustered Lawrencia are the only Malvaceae plants we've found on Ellura so far. As is our general stance on common names, it's wrong to call something by the introduced plant it eats when it was surviving happily before European invasion.
Imaged 3 in Jan(1) & Oct(2)
Leaf Roller Moth
Cryptoptila australana
Na
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Imaged 10 in May(4), Jun(2), Jul(1), Aug(2) & Sep(1)
Yellow Cobblestoned Leaf Roller
Dichelopa achranta


iNaturalist
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Thank you Dr Peter McQuillan for identifying this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
We thought this was Merophyas siniodes but Peter said "Dichelopa achranta is known from dry open woodlands including the mallee. Looks rather like a Clepsis/Merophyas but is more lustrous and with a "cobblestone" pattern." He also suggested it may use Beyeria as a food source, which we have plenty of.
Imaged 1 in Mar
Dorsal
Hind Wings
Light Brown Wattle Moth
Epiphyas postvittana


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameLight Brown Apple Moth

Thank you Michael Keogh for confirming the id of this species for us

~9mm long.
The rear band on females is paler than on males. You can also see here this matches up with the ventral shots; the female having a more rounded abdomen.
Imaged 2 in Feb(1) & Mar(1)
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S2, Female, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
🔍S2, Female, profile
🔍S2, Female, Head & Legs
S1, Male, ventral
🔍S2, Female, ventral
Brown Tortrix Moth
Epiphyas xylodes
Na
a
Imaged 25(2F) in Dec
S2, Dorsal
S1, Dorsal
S1, Profile
S1, Hindwings
S2, Ventral
Patchy Leaf Roller
Eucosma sp ES01


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

You can see the colour of this one specimen varies considerably depending on the angle of the flash light. From dark brown to almose white.
We originally thought this was Grapholita sp because of the trailing bars on the wing, but this genus now seems to be restricted to coastal Eastern Seaboard areas.
Imaged 3 in Sep(1), Oct(1) & Dec(1)
Profile
Dorsal, ~7mm
Ventral
No reflection
Reflecting
Patched Leaf Roller
Eucosma sp ES02


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for identifying this species for us

We originally thought this was Grapholita sp because of the trailing bars on the wing, but this genus now seems to be restricted to coastal Eastern Seaboard areas.
Imaged 1 in Oct
Dorsal, ~7mm
Ventral
Metallic Leaf Roller
Eucosma sp ES05
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We originally thought this was Grapholita sp because of the trailing bars on the wing, but this genus now seems to be restricted to coastal Eastern Seaboard areas.
Imaged 2 in Oct(1) & Nov(1)
Dorsal
Profile
Ventral
Pink Tufted Moth
Heliocosma anthodes


iNaturalist
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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
~6mm long, ~15mm wingspan.
Males have very thick antennae compared to females, both being filiform.
Imaged 7(5M,1F) in Aug(1M), Sep(3:2M,1F) & Oct(3:2M)
Male, dorsal
🔍Male, profile
Female, profile
Black & White Tufted Moth
Heliocosma melanotypa


iNaturalist
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Other Common NameBlack and White Tufted Moth

Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Imaged 4 in Sep(1), Oct(2) & Dec(1)
🔍Profile
Dorsal
Trailing-spotted Tortrix Moth
Meritastis polygraphana


iNaturalist
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Imaged 1 in Jul
🔍Dorsal
🔍Profile
🔍Partial Hindwing
🔍Ventral
Striking Tortrix Moth
Meritastis pyrosemana
Na
a
Imaged 4 in Feb(2) & Oct(2)
Dorsal
Profile
Rocky-skinned Leaf Roller Moth
Merophyas petrochroa


iNaturalist
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SynonymsCapua petrochroa, Clepsis petrochroa or Tortrix firmata

Thank you Larney Grenfell for identifying and Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

~8mm long.
Very variable in colour & patten. Many have a kick in the mid-wing line.
Imaged 7 in Jan(1), Mar(2), May(2), Sep(1) & Nov(1)
🔍S2, dorsal
🔍S5, dorsal
🔍S6, dorsal
🔍S7, dorsal
🔍S7, dorsal
🔍S5, profile
🔍S7, profile
Eucalyptus Leafroller Moth
Strepsicrates macropetana


iNaturalist
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for identifying and Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

We thought this was a Diamond-backed Tortrix Moth (Oxysemaphora notialis). Partly our mistake came from a camera artifact that over exposed the back, making it look like a diamond; but they also vary in how white the pattern on their back is. We've now added other photo's of another, darker specimen we found that shows the same patterns, except where the first was over-exposed.
Imaged 2 in Aug(1) & Dec(1)
🔍S2, Female, dorsal
🔍S1, profile
🔍S2, Female, profile
🔍S2, Female, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Sedge Moth (:Yponomeutoid Glyphipterigidae); 2 species, none from Ellura
Sedge Moth
Glyphipterix chrysoplanetis


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 5 in Nov(2) & Dec(3)
Profile
Metallic Sedge Moth
Glyphipterix meteora


iNaturalist
Na
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Thank you Ralph Foster for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
Imaged 6 in Nov(5) & Dec(1)
Profile
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Diamondback Moth (:Yponomeutoid Plutellidae); 2 species, 1 from Ellura
Australian Diamondback Moth
Plutella cf australiana


iNaturalist
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SynonymPlutella xylostella-australiana

Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us

Only discovered as being a separate moth this year (2018).
It is not possible to differentiate them visibly from the introduced Cabbage Moth. However, the introduced moth is a cosmopolitan species, and seems to prefer cooler/wetter environments. As such, we are guessing this is the native one at Ellura, but the introduced one in the Adelaide Hills.
Thanks to Donald Hobern for alerting us to this new species

Unusually on iNat they are now calling this "Complex Plutella xylostella-australiana", it's not a proper taxon name or identifier and should really be left as Plutella genus, but it does a good job of quickly highlighting the situation.
Imaged 14 in Mar(2), Apr(1), May(1), Aug(1), Sep(4), Oct(4) & Nov(1)
S2, Pale
S3, Darker
S3, Profile
S6, Profile, ~6mm
S6, Vental, wingspan ~15mm
Cabbage Moth
Plutella cf xylostella
If
a
SynonymPlutella xylostella-australiana

Other Common NameDiamondback Moth

Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us

This introduced species is highly variable in it's colours. The antennae always have banding, however, and point forward.
Imaged 2 in Oct
Profile
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Cup Moth (:Zygaenoidea Limacodidae); 5 species from Ellura
Tiger Cup Moth
Anaxidia lactea


iNaturalist
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Thank you Dr Bevan Buirchell for confirming the id of this species for us

~17mm long, ~38mm wingspan. Limacodidae (this family) males have bipectinate antennae & females have ciliated (fine, hairy); would look filiform to the naked eye. Interestingly we have never found a female Limacodidae, and can't find any photo's of a female of this species.
A very distinctive moth with a "lighting flash" black line near the trailing edge of the wings; and very fury looking like other cup moths. The rest of both wings are a plain sandy brown; which makes sense as they are an arid species.
The real surprise is underneath with bright orange & black striped legs, orange striped body & orange highlights around the face. The antennae bases are covered in an orange tuft. The short scales making the orange body stripes are covered with long sandy brown scales; making the orange stripes nearly visible.
Imaged 8(5M) in Nov(3M) & Dec(5:2M)
Dorsal
Profile
Hindwing
Underwing
Face
Anterior
Body
Front leg
Ventral
Ventral
Wattle Cup Moth
Calcarifera ordinata


iNaturalist
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Thank you Don Herbison-Evans, Axel Kallies, Dr Bevan Buirchell, Karen Weaving & James Peake (JimBobo) for confirming the id of this species for us

Adult males ~13mm.The larva was ~20mm long.
These seem to be a fairly rare moth, but we seem to have a good population of them.
Imaged 11(5M,4J) in Jan(5:4M), Feb(4J), Nov(1) & Dec(1M)
🔍S4, Larva, dorsal
🔍S6, Male, dorsal
🔍S9, Male, dorsal
🔍S3, Larva, profile
🔍S5, Male, profile
🔍S7, Male, profile
🔍S8, Male, profile
🔍S9, Male, profile
🔍S10, Male, profile
🔍S9, Male, Hindwing
🔍S1, Larva, ventral
🔍S2, Larva, ventral
🔍S5, Male, ventral
Cup Moth
Comana sp
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While we knew some people were sensitive to caterpillar hairs, we didn't realise they could be poisonous.
Well this one is! Apparently it's worse than a bee sting. We were so lucky not to get stung, because the bush was full of them, and were pushing into it to get good angles for the photo's.
You can be stung just by brushing passed them.
You can see in the close up that it's feeling threatened, and the spines are protruding. If you look closely you can see a little edge on each one about half way along; that's where it retracts. They are hypodermic needles filled with poison!
In future we'll be treating these with a lot more respect & distance

Imaged 1 in Jan
Larva, back
Larva, front
🔍Larva, profile
Larva, isometric
Larva, Spines Armed
Four-spotted Cup Moth
Doratifera quadriguttata


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Other Common NameSlug Moth

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~15mm long, wingspan ~34mm. Males have bipectinate antennae, females are filiform. The male pectinations are unusually thick and each look cupped & thicker at the end, almost spatulate.
A "Cup" moth because the pupal case is in the form of a cup.
A "Slug" moth because it's the only family who's larva don't have pro-legs and look more like a green slug (a snail without a house) from underneath.
This is a very interesting species. We believe it's a spcies complex, as there are 7 Bold DNA bins, with differing numbers of spots. The common name is miss-leading .... 2 spots per side = 4 spots total, or 4 spots per side? As it turns out we've counted between 2 to 8 spots per side. There is also another species whose adult is visually indistinguishable from these, Doratifera casta; which strangely isn't represented in the Bold DNA bins. As such, we'll show the adult & larva together under one species here, even though the adult could be the other.
The larva has retractable needle stingers discussed below. They have ordinary caterpillar heads, which is hard to see as it can be retracted and protected behind a thick layer of skin.
Imaged 3(1M,1F,1J) in Mar(1J), Nov(1M) & Dec(1F)
Male, dorsal
Male, profile
Male, walking
Male, pectinations
Male, ventral
Larva, dorsal
Larva, profile
🔍Larva, exposed stingers
🔍Larva, retracted stingers
🔍Larva, texture
Larva, viewing slits?
Larva, head
Larva, ventral
Golden Cup Moth
Pseudanapaea sp


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Always surprises us to see moth playing dead.
We were testing a new LED work light out as a moth light. Worked very well. Unfortunately this fellow sat on it (stuffing up the lighting), flapped about a lot and either exhausted itself or felt threatened by the camera. After a while it just keeled over and looked dead (when we got the ventral shot). It later "recovered" and flew away

We've gone through the 21 Bold Bins related to Pseudanapaea.
3 are in SA. This is the only one not P. denotata by DNA testing, it's P. transvestita. It's right on the SA/NSW/Vic Border. ie River Murray: Bold Bin
There is at least one sample "BC EF Lep 01466" that has no large white/pale patch behind the orange, as in most P. transvestita. Therefore, we don't think it's possible to visually differentiate between Pseudanapaea and it's not possible to assume id based on location.
P. transvestita example with no large white patches
Imaged 10M in Jan(1M), Mar(2M), Apr(2M), Oct(3M) & Nov(2M)
S1, Male, dorsal
🔍S10, Male, dorsal
S1, Male, profile
🔍S10, Male, profile
S1, Male, anterior
S2, Male, Antenna
🔍S10, Male, Antenna
S2, Male, clear wings
S2, Male, body
S2, Male, ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Forester Moth (:Zygaenoidea Zygaenidae); 3 species, 2 from Ellura
Mainland Forester
Hestiochora continentalis


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:
A medium sized, spectacular moth. There are a few in this genera, but the orange head and location suggest H. continentalis; indicating it's restricted to the mainland (not Tasmania). It's a very rare moth with very few records.
The female we found was ~7mm long, wingspan ~20mm.
It has dark brown wings (fore & hind), a blue/black body with cream & white stripes. While the top of the head is orange, along with an orange collar, the face is black.
The wings readily loose scales, making them become transparent with age. This can be seen here on the hind wings. It has smale white tufts above & below the "shoulders" (wing joins).
Imaged 1 in Nov
Female, dorsal
Female, profile
🔍Female, Head & Antennae
Female, Anterior
Female, Translucent Hindwing
Female, Ventral
Wasp Mimicking Forester
Myrtartona rufiventris


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Thank you Axel Kallies for confirming the id of this species for us

1st Live Photo on-line:These are also the 1st ever (dead or alive) female photo's of this species on-line, as well as the 1st ventral photo's of this species on-line.
~9mm long & ~21mm wingspan. Male antennae are bipectinate, while females are filiform.
The top of the body is orange, which is very visible in flight. This, plus the long visible antennae, make them look very much like a wasp to the naked eye.
Black/brown matt wings (unlike it's cousin the Green Forester) with white flecks (and can have a white spot on each wing, but we haven't seen this).
They are white underneath, with the male having black stripes and the female having black & brown patches.
They love our M. lanceolata bushes. Apparantly the caterpillers eat them, so the adults are attracted to them at mating time (December in our area).
A quick note: These specimens are alive, just cold from being put in the fridge to calm down, and were released and flew away within the hour.
Imaged 8(6M,2F) in Dec
S2, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, profile
🔍S8, Male, profile
S2, Male, orange abdomen
S2, Male, orange abdomen
S2, Male, ventral
🔍S1, Female, dorsal
S1, Female, profile
S1, Female, orange abdomen
S1, Female, ventral
Satin-green Forester
Pollanisus sp


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Thank you David Muirhead & Bianca Giles for confirming the id of this species for us

~11mm long.
An incredibly shiny, metallic moth. Almost every surface is reflective, with a base colour of green, but depending on lighting and reflection/refraction can look any array of colours; from black, blue through green & copper.
The hindwing is a non-metallic plain brown.
The different specimens here highlight the colour variations which is not gender specific.
The female does have a non metallic, golden tuft on the tip of her abdomen.
It's very hard to differentiate the male & female from the antennae. While they are dramatically different the male tends to hold the filaments close to the core making them look very similar most of the time. Where as the gold tip on the female can be readily seen from side angles.
There are two species in this genus that can be easily confused; P. apicalis, which is generally smaller, & P. viridipulverulenta. Peter Marriott said that size is not a good separator of species indicating there are some very small P. viridipulverulenta. He said "Comparing the set specimens of apicalis and viridipulverulenta the wing shape is significant. P. apicalis has narrower wings in comparison to P. viridipulverulenta."
As Peter also said, camera angle, etc, can make this difficult to distinguish. Note that the male shown here (S2) is a single specimen; showing a variety of apparantly different wing shapes & colours.
Having looked at the specimens on Bold we don't have a good enough eye to differentiate, so have lifted our id to genus.
Imaged 9(7M,2F) in Sep(1M), Oct(1M) & Nov(7:5M,2F)
S2, Male, dorsal, natural colour
S2, Male, dorsal
S2, Male, Body & partial Hindwing
S2, Male, Head, dorsal
S2, Male, Palps & Antenna
S2, Male, Antenna, under
🔍S2, Male, anterior
S2, Male, ventral
S3, Female, dorsal
🔍S3, Female, dorsal
S3, Female, profile
S3, Female, head
S3, Female, ventral
S3, Female, ventral
🔍S5, Male, Antennae
🔍S8, Male, Antennae
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Skippers (Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae); 3 species, 1 from Ellura
Mottled Grass-skipper
Anisynta cynone ssp cynone


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Other Common NameCynone Skipper

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 4 in Mar
🔍Underwing
Head
🔍Upperwing
Iridescence
Southern Grass-dart
Ocybadistes walkeri


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Other Common NamesGreenish Dart or Greenish Grass-dart

Thank you Terra Occ for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Mar
🔍Dorsal
Rare White-spot Rush-skipper
Trapezites luteus ssp luteus


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SynonymTrapezites lutea ssp lutea

Other Common NameRare White-spot Skipper

Thank you Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Nov
🔍Dorsal
Anterior
Ventral
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Gossamer-winged Butterfly (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae); 7 species from Ellura
Rayed Blue
Candalides heathi


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

The visibility of the veins on the inside colouring is very dependant on light angles.
Imaged 9 in Jan(2), Feb(2), Sep(4) & Dec(1)
Outside
Inside
Inside
Icilius Hairstreak
Jalmenus icilius


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Other Common NamesAmethyst Hairstreak or Icilius Blue

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

Imaged 1 in Mar
🔍Wings, ventral
Dorsal
Body, profile
Long-tailed Pea-blue
Lampides boeticus


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Thank you Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

~11mm long. Wingspan ~32mm. A little larger than Grass Blues.
We gave up hope of finding one of these many years ago. Then yesterday we saw a blue trapped in the shade house. Caught it to release it outside and realised what it was; very excited
Got some photo's to show you before releasing her.
As with all of the blues, the upper-wing blue colour varies in intensity (between individuals, locations, etc). Males have blue extending to, about, the edges of the wings, where as females are only blue to, about, the middle of the wing. This one is quite pale.
Interestingly, the tails mimick their antennae. Like the stigma (eye spots in the wings), these are intended to trick predators into thinking their head is at the other end. A bird nip at their tail allows them to escape.
The "pea" in the common name is because they favour legumes as a food source. And blue because the upper wing surfaces can be very blue. While this one is quite pale, you can still see the metallic blue scales scattered around, just not very many of them.
Notice the hairy eyes. We've seen this in flies before. Not sure what benefit this has. Prof' Ian Gibbins said "The hairy eyes are almost certainly mechanoreceptors that would alert the insect to potential obstacles that it can't see for some reason eg out of visual wavelength range? The other possibility is that they are air-movement detectors and used for precise control of orientation during flight." Fascinating!
Imaged 6(2F) in Sep(4:2F) & Oct(2)
🔍Female, Dorsal
🔍Female, Profile, wings up
🔍Female, Profile, wings down
🔍Female, Long Tail
🔍Female, Antennae & Hairy Eye
🔍Female, Colour Scales
Two-spotted Line-blue
Nacaduba biocellata


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Other Common Names2-spotted Line-blue or Double-spotted Line Blue

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† & Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

Looks very similar to the common grass-blue & pea-blue butterflies.
It is more brown with 2 distinctive spots on the rear wings.
Notice the spots can be different shapes. Possibly camera angle, but will also vary depending on how stretched the wing is.
Imaged 11 in Jan(4), May(1), Jun(1), Aug(1), Sep(2) & Oct(2)
🔍S11, dorsal, Long Scales
🔍S11, profile
🔍S11, Topside
S2, Underside
S3, Topside
S4, Underside, brown edge
S5, Underside
S6, Different Shaped Spots
Wattle Blue
Theclinesthes miskini ssp miskini
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Saltbush Blue
Theclinesthes serpentatus


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SynonymTheclinesthes serpentata

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Matt Endacott & Terra Occ for confirming the id of this species for us

These small blue (Gossamer-winged) butterflies can be hard to separate out.
These are probably one of the few that can be by just seeing the upper surface of their wings, in South Australia. The white chequered edges being characteristic of these.
The under surface of their wings can be grey to brown as shown here.
Imaged 48 in Jan(5), Feb(8), Mar(10), Apr(7), May(3), Aug(2), Sep(3), Nov(3) & Dec(7)
Underside - grey
Underside - brown
Topside
Rear
Grass-blue
Zizina otis ssp labradus


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SynonymsZizina labradus or Zizina otis

Other Common NameCommon Grass-blue

Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

There seems to be some disagreement over the binomial name with these. Our naming comes from Atlas of Living Australia, a federal government web site that publishes the names of all Australian creatures, along with sightings, etc.
Imaged 50(2M,2F) in Jan(1), Feb(6), Mar(3), Apr(7), May(5), Jun(1), Jul(3), Aug(2), Sep(5), Oct(3), Nov(3:1M,1F) & Dec(11:1M,1F)
🔍Topside wings
Partial Profile
Veins
Underside
From Adelaide Hills
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Brown Butterfly (Papilionoidea: Nymphalidae); 7 species, 6 from Ellura
Australian Wanderer
Danaus petilia


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Other Common NameLesser Wanderer

Thank you Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

One of the more beautiful butterflies in South Australia.
Large and graceful
Body is black with white polka dots.
The wings have gentle brown tones, ending in stark black and white edges.
Imaged 6(2M,4F) in Jan(3F), Apr(1M), Sep(1F) & Nov(1M)
Male, Tail Pincers / Forceps
🔍Male, Tail Pincers / Forceps Retracted
Male, Underwing, Forewings Extended
🔍Male, Underwing, Forewings Retracted
🔍Male, "Sex Mark"
Male, Head, dorsal
Male, Head & Feet, profile
🔍Female, Underwing, Forewings Extended
🔍Female, Forewings, Released
🔍Female, White Mark, Hindwing Costa
🔍Female, Body, profile
🔍Female, Body, profile, closer
🔍Female, Body, dorsal
Foreign Wanderer
Danaus plexippus


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Other Common NamesMonarch or Wanderer

Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us

While this butterfly comes from the Americas. It's only food source is the introduced Milkweed.
There is some discussion if it arrives under it's own steam to the Eastcoast of Australia. Even so, it wouldn't be able to propogate without the weed. Regardless, it's not native to SA.
Imaged 5(2M,2F) in Mar(1M), Apr(2:1F), May(1F) & Jun(1M)
Male, dorsal
Male, underwing
Male, Sex Marks
Male, Head
Female, dorsal
Female, underwings
Klug's Xenica
Geitoneura klugii
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Other Common NameMarbled Xenica

Similar Species: Black-rimmed Brown (Heteronympha merope ssp merope) : Orange-spotted Sun Moth (Synemon parthenoides ssp parthenoides)
While generally females are paler (particularly the dark patch under the forewing), this is not a reliable diagnostic feature. However, the males have an additional band on their upper forewings which is absent in females. This "sex band" can appear silver in the right lighting conditions.
Imaged 8(5M,2F) in Jan(2M), Nov(2:1M) & Dec(4:2M,2F)
Female, Wings, upper
🔍Female, Wings, under
Male, Wings, upper
Male, Silver 'sex band'
Male, Hindwing, under
Male, Forewing, under
Black-rimmed Brown
Heteronympha merope ssp merope


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Other Common NameCommon Brown

Similar Species: Klug's Xenica (Geitoneura klugii)
Thank you Leon Crang, Reiner Richter, Alan Melville & Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

Male ~17mm body length & ~60mm wingspan. Female was considerably larger at ~17mm body length & ~80mm wingspan.
As can be seen the males & females look completely different and easily considered different species.
They also emerge at different times of the year; which doesn't make sense at first. The thinking is that only the strongest males are still alive to mate.
Thanks to Leon for later taking the id further down to sub-species

Imaged 46(26M,18F,1J) in Jan(12:7M,5F), Feb(2F), Mar(2F), Apr(8:1M,7F), Nov(3:2M,1J) & Dec(19:16M,2F)
Male, dorsal
🔍Male, Forewing, under
Male, Hindwing, under
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Female, Forewing, under
Female, Hindwing, under
🔍Female, Hindwing, under
Larva, dorsal
Larva, ventral
Meadow Argus
Junonia villida


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Thank you Matt Endacott & Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

Brown & orange butterfly with 4 trailing "eye" pattern on the wings. These "eyes" are a protective measure. Predators with attack the head (where the eyes are), but here these are the wings, which are not as fragile as the head. We've seen butterflies with severely damaged wing which are still able to fly.
Notice the stigma are made of different coloured scales, very metallic blue in colour.
Also notice the photo of the underwings scales. It shows large variation in size and shape of scales; long thin hair like strands vs large & small wide flat scales. Some of the flat scales have a smooth end, while others are serrated.
Imaged 16(3J) in Jan(1), Mar(1), Apr(5), Jun(1), Aug(1J), Sep(2), Oct(1), Nov(1J) & Dec(3:1J)
Larva, profile
Larva, anterior
Larva, curled
Larva, ventral
🔍Adult, dorsal, Wings Back
🔍Adult, dorsal, Wings Forward
🔍Adult, dorsal, Blue Missing
Underwing, Forewings Down
🔍Underwing, Forewings Up
🔍Adult, profile, Colour Variation
🔍Adult, Antenna above
🔍Adult, Antenna under
🔍Stigma, Scales
🔍Scales
Australian Admiral
Vanessa itea


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Other Common NameYellow Admiral

Thank you Indra Bone, Thomas Mesaglio & Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

~15mm long, ~48mm wingspan.
Brilliant blue fake-eye (stigma) on the forewings, with brown marbled rear wings.
Notice the hairy eyes!
Also notice the pale marks vary between white to dark yellow (hence the "Yellow" Admiral common name).
Imaged 14 in Mar(1), Apr(2), Sep(5), Oct(4) & Dec(2)
S7, Topside Wings
S8, Topside Wings
🔍S13, Topside Wings
S7, Underside Wings
S8, Underside Wings
🔍S13, Underside Wings
🔍S13, Antennae
🔍S13, Hairy Eye
Australian Painted Lady
Vanessa kershawi


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Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us

Medium sized butterfly with 3 blue and 1 black spots (eye mimics) on the rear (outer margin) of the hindwings.
An attractive array of orange, black & white patterns.
They have hairy eyes!
Various specimens are missing some of the black line on the hindwing forward of the black eye spot.
We found 2 specimens that had spurious white spot in the middle of orange patches. However, they are in different places to each other, and not on any others we've found. They look like some sort of invert (eg a white mite), but the spots are in identical places on each side of the wing.
Imaged 47(1M,1F,3J) in Jan(1), Mar(1), Apr(5), May(2), Jun(1), Jul(1), Aug(7:1M,1F), Sep(13:3J), Oct(7), Nov(3) & Dec(6)
Missing black hindwing line
Has the black hindwing line
White spot, middle orange patch
🔍White spot, inner orange patch
Old & worn
Damaged, can still fly
Under Wings
Forewings Retracted
Hairy Eyes
Anterior
Courting
Mating
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilionoidea: Papilionidae); 1 species, none from Ellura
Dainty Swallowtail
Papilio anactus


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Other Common NameSmall Dingy Swallowtail

Thank you Jo Jo Swann & Julianne B (Ennailuj) for confirming the id of this species for us

Thanks to Kally Pulsford for the use of her larva photo's

Imaged 2(1J) in Mar(1J) & Dec(1)
🔍Adult, dorsal
🔍Larva, dorsal
🔍Larva, profile
🔍Larva, anterior
Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) - White & Yellow Butterfly (Papilionoidea: Pieridae); 4 species from Ellura
Caper White
Belenois java ssp teutonia


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III†, Thomas Mesaglio & Matt Endacott for confirming the id of this species for us

The males and females can be separated by a black 'apical' mark on the forewings that can be seen on either side. It's like a sex mark/band seen in other butterflies. Unusually, here, it is thicker in the female and thinner in the male.
The images on wiki have the sex the wrong way around. In dark form females this mark joins with the thick outer wing band to become non-distinct.
The amount of yellowing isn't gender related.
Thanks to Matt Endacott on iNaturalist for picking up our gender errors

Imaged 18(6M,8F) in Jan(1), Feb(1), Apr(1F), Sep(2:1M,1F), Oct(7:2M,3F), Nov(5:3M,2F) & Dec(1F)
Female, white body
Female, dark body
Female, yellow on forewing
Female, yellow on forewing
Male, no yellow on forewing
Male, few black stripes
Female, Topside, 'dark form'
Female, ventral
Red-spotted Jezebel
Delias aganippe


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Other Common NameWood White

Thank you Thomas Mesaglio & Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us

The female we caught was ~25mm long with ~75mm wingspan.
A brightly coloured butterfly with red, yellow and white splashes on black.
One of the most spectacular inverts we've seen.
Did someone loose their 1970's kitchen curtains?

Allen Sundholm said "Freshly emerged !"
To separate out the genders Don Herbison-Evans said "The females have an additional black spot near the centre of each forewing."
Imaged 7(1M,6F) in Mar(2F), Aug(1F) & Sep(4:1M,3F)
🔍Male
🔍Female, dorsal
🔍Female, profile, Released
🔍Female, profile
🔍Female, Under Forewing
🔍Female, Body
🔍Female, Head
Small Grass-yellow Butterfly
Eurema smilax


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Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

~12mm long and ~30mm wingspan.
Small, common, yellow butterfly. The brown markings are not easily visible. Very bright yellow when flying.
There are pale & bright summer forms along with browner & richer winter forms. The colour variation shows up on the underwings. The top of the head can also be pale brown to black.
Surprisingly they can still fly while and mating. Shown here are 2 photo's where they even swap positions (ie which is on top holding & which is hanging). One assumes the female is the larger of the two.
They are difficult to differentiate the genders.
Imaged 20(1M,2F) in Jan(2:1M,1F), Apr(2:1F,1E), May(3), Sep(2), Oct(6), Nov(4) & Dec(1)
🔍'Winter' Form
'Winter' Form
'Summer' Form
Veins
In sunlight
Camouflaged
🔍Uncamouflaged
Mating Pair, bush 1
Mating Pair, bush 2
Upperwings
Underwings
Female laying eggs
Small Cabbage White
Pieris rapae


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Other Common NameCabbage White

Thank you Matt Endacott, Karen Weaving & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us

Males have one black spot per forewing, while females have 2. They both have one spot on each hindwing.
This is not obvious and it's easy to confuse the male's forewing spot and hindwing spot as 2 spots on one wing; looking like a female.
Larvae are green, with a pale yellow/green line along it's back. Yellow spotting around it's spiricles and 4 tiny ocelli (eyes) per side.
Imaged 19(7M,7F,1J) in Jan(2:1M), Feb(2:1M,1F), Mar(2F), Apr(2:1M,1F), Jul(1), Aug(3:1M,1F), Sep(2:1F), Oct(2:1M,1F), Nov(1M) & Dec(2:1M,1J)
🔍Female, topside Wings
Male, topside Wings
Underside Wings
🔍Larvae, profile, Legs
🔍Larvae, dorsal
🔍Larvae, Eyes
🔍Larvae, Stripe
🔍Chrysalis, dorsal
🔍Chrysalis, profile
🔍Chrysalis, posterior

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