Monday 8 March 2010

Moths!

No new cicadas for a while, so I've turned my attention to moths. This involves a lot of leafing through plates in I.F.B. Common's 'Moths of Australia' and clicking on pictures in CSIRO's Moths Online. I haven't had a great deal of success so far. Although Common's book illustrates 1,000 species, that's only about 10% of the described fauna. The other 90% are crawling over my windows or battering themselves senseless on the fluoros and falling into my tea.

Here are some that I've managed to identify. (Possibly incorrectly. So if you can help out, please let me know.)

Chrysodeixis illuminata (Noctuidae: Plusiinae)

This species also occurs in New Guinea and Fiji. The spur on each foreleg is an epiphysis, used for cleaning the antennae and proboscis.

Close up
(I want this pattern on a sofa)

Micronia fuscifimbria (Uraniidae: Microniinae)

The best known uraniid is the day-flying Alcides zodiaca, a large black moth with iridescent markings. The family also includes a small number of pale nocturnal species.

Eumelea rosalia (Geometridae: Oenochrominae)


A variable species that extends from SE Queensland through Indonesia to Malaysia.