Lepidopterology - Tumblr Posts - Page 2
Just a very pastel luna moth for now :>
moth people and their awkward baby photos
Hey so i suspect this moth is Nephele subvaria, which as you can see in the photo below (the photo is of a female btw, they have slight sexual dimorphism) has large wings and the white spots and stripes on its body that you spoke about. According to wikipedia it doesn't occur in NSW but according to an australian site it does so...
or it could be Coequosa australasiae, which looks like this:
Another thing i want to say is that you likely didn't see a snowberry clearwing, bc to my knowledge they haven't been recorded in Australia. It was probably a gardenia bee hawkmoth (cephonodes kingii), which looks similar.
These are all members of the family Sphingidae, some of which, like the hummingbird hawkmoth and gardenia bee hawkmoth, had a bit of a convergent evolution moment and therefore fly in a similar way to hummingbirds.
For identification of local species i dont recommend google as it tends to be biased towards America and Europe, but try inaturalist, a field guide or a local site, like this australian lepidoptera site, which i found nephele subvaria on.
Can you help me identify this moth?
This are screenshots from a video my mum took yesterday, of this moth that I've been unable to identify. It was a pretty big moth in my opinion, as I'd never seen a moth that big before lmao. It was flying like how hummingbirds fly, which is why you can't really see the wings properly. The body is a light brown, the top wings are the same light brown, with a small white spot on each of them, and the underwings are orange. It's butt has bands of darker brown on it, and it clearly has long antenna.
For context: I live in northern NSW Australia, however I have previously seen and been able to correctly identify a different moth species that looked somewhat similar to this one, which was a North American moth called the Snowberry Clearwing, which also appeared on the same exact bush today, after having seen this mystery moth a day before. I'm not sure if this moth could be a North American moth or an Australian moth, but the unidentified moth in these pictures is a bit larger than the Snowberry Clearwing.
Pearl moth, Pachynoa xanthochyta, Crambidae
Photographed in Indonesia by astrapia
The white-lined sphinx moth, common across North America. Very pretty little guy. 10/10.
P. S.
The caterpillars are also really cool. They have a little spike on their rear end that reminds me of those german world war 1 helmets. (just looked it up and apparently it's called a pickelhaube) The spike doesn't do anything though, no worries. Fun fact: the caterpillars have many different colour morphs, from yellow all the way to black.
this moth touched my soul
Very!! It's likely a salt marsh moth, though it's hard to tell from the angle. At the very least it's an arctiid moth.
Fun fact!!
Some male lepidoptera, salt marsh moths included, have these sort of eldritch-looking structures inside them called hair pencils/coremata. When they're close to a female, they begin their courtship by inflating these with blood/haemolymph or air. The coremata release pheromones which attract females and repel males of the same species. Picture below the cut bc it's a bit disturbing
Expansion and retraction of coremata
Source: reddit
Inflated coremata
Source: bugguide
Glamourous.
This is a pacific green sphinx/bear sphinx!! They're highly attracted to light apparently, and among the first sphingidae moths/hawkmoths you'll see flying around during the year. You can read more in this article, which i thought was pretty fascinating :>
Thanks for introducing me to this moth op, might be one of my new favourites :)
Moth outside dunno what it is but it's pretty!
BUG OF THE DAY
BotD 6 - 03/27/24
Am I late this time? No way!!! This is the Gaudy Sphinx Moth!
These fluttery fellas are anything but gaudy, bearing beautiful emerald coloring. As with most Hawkmoths, these moths have a splash of red lining their underwings. That, along with their sharp, angular wings make these moths an absolutely stunning species! These moths can usually be found in North, Central, and South America, but commonly fly long distances, and can occasionally be found in strange places. The larvae of this species have distinct eyespots, meant to resemble that of snake eyes. Their disproportionately large, shiny "eyes" make them look almost like a Pokémon in their larval state. Truly an amazing creature!
Moth Of The Day #272
Coenobasis amoena
From the limacodidae family. There is little to no information recorded about this moth.
Image sources: [1] [2]
Moth Of The Day #291
Larch Tolype / Larch Lappet Moth
Tolype laricis
From the lasiocampidae family. They can be found in eastern North America.
Image source: [1] [2]
Please could you show the world my favourite moth, Moma alpium, the Scarce merveille du jour? Its very special to me, and I hope others can appreciate it too.
Moth Of The Day #270
Scarce Merveille du Jour
Moma alpium
From the noctuidae family. They have a wingspan of 30-35 mm. They can be found in the Palearctic Realm.
Image sources: [1] [2]
Moth Of The Day #251
Marbled Emperor
Heniocha dyops
From the saturniidae family. They can be found in Angola, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania.
Image sources: [1] [2] [3] [4]
Moth Of The Day #212
Lily Moth / Indian Lily Moth
Polytela gloriosae
From the noctuidae family. They have a wingspan of about 29 mm. They are found in Sri Lanka and possibly Indonesia.
Image sources: [1] [2]
If you haven't done them already could you do the Picasso Moth? (Baorisa hieroglyphica)
(Also I just wanted to say your blog is an absolute delight to scroll through! Genuinely brightens up my day seeing the posts pop up on my feed)
Moth Of The Day #226
Picasso Moth
Baorisa hieroglyphica
From the erebidae family. They have a wingspan of approximately 50 mm. They can be found in northeastern India and Southeast Asia.
Image sources: [1] [2]
