#mothodon — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mothodon, aggregated by home.social.
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Here's another elegant NZ moth for you. This one's called the Alpine Treasure Owlet (*Ichneutica maya*).
It's mostly seen up in the mountains in the South Island but also in the mountains of the lower North Island. I saw this one up at Boyle Village in the North Canterbury Southern Alps.
As is the case with many NZ moths, the "life history in the wild of this species is unknown, nor has its larval host species been confirmed" (quoting its Wikipedia page, which is referencing Robert Hoare's 2019 Fauna Series revision of the genus). We've got 144 observations of it so far on #iNaturalist.
https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342867458
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55146832010#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #Noctuidae #Ichneutica #nz #entomology
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Here's another elegant NZ moth for you. This one's called the Alpine Treasure Owlet (*Ichneutica maya*).
It's mostly seen up in the mountains in the South Island but also in the mountains of the lower North Island. I saw this one up at Boyle Village in the North Canterbury Southern Alps.
As is the case with many NZ moths, the "life history in the wild of this species is unknown, nor has its larval host species been confirmed" (quoting its Wikipedia page, which is referencing Robert Hoare's 2019 Fauna Series revision of the genus). We've got 144 observations of it so far on #iNaturalist.
https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342867458
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55146832010#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #Noctuidae #Ichneutica #nz #entomology
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Here's another elegant NZ moth for you. This one's called the Alpine Treasure Owlet (*Ichneutica maya*).
It's mostly seen up in the mountains in the South Island but also in the mountains of the lower North Island. I saw this one up at Boyle Village in the North Canterbury Southern Alps.
As is the case with many NZ moths, the "life history in the wild of this species is unknown, nor has its larval host species been confirmed" (quoting its Wikipedia page, which is referencing Robert Hoare's 2019 Fauna Series revision of the genus). We've got 144 observations of it so far on #iNaturalist.
https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342867458
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55146832010#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #Noctuidae #Ichneutica #nz #entomology
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Here's another elegant NZ moth for you. This one's called the Alpine Treasure Owlet (*Ichneutica maya*).
It's mostly seen up in the mountains in the South Island but also in the mountains of the lower North Island. I saw this one up at Boyle Village in the North Canterbury Southern Alps.
As is the case with many NZ moths, the "life history in the wild of this species is unknown, nor has its larval host species been confirmed" (quoting its Wikipedia page, which is referencing Robert Hoare's 2019 Fauna Series revision of the genus). We've got 144 observations of it so far on #iNaturalist.
https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342867458
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55146832010#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #Noctuidae #Ichneutica #nz #entomology
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Here's another elegant NZ moth for you. This one's called the Alpine Treasure Owlet (*Ichneutica maya*).
It's mostly seen up in the mountains in the South Island but also in the mountains of the lower North Island. I saw this one up at Boyle Village in the North Canterbury Southern Alps.
As is the case with many NZ moths, the "life history in the wild of this species is unknown, nor has its larval host species been confirmed" (quoting its Wikipedia page, which is referencing Robert Hoare's 2019 Fauna Series revision of the genus). We've got 144 observations of it so far on #iNaturalist.
https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342867458
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55146832010#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #Noctuidae #Ichneutica #nz #entomology
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"x" marks the moth!
Usually moths have sweeping curves and circles in their markings. Not so *Eudonia asterisca*, an aptly named NZ-endemic moth. It has a distinctive "x" mark on each forewing.
I photographed this moth at a moth light in the North Canterbury mountains. There are 211 observations of this moth on iNaturalist so far, mostly in the mountains, from throughout the country.
I don't know what its caterpillars eat. (I'm not sure if anyone knows, as it's not listed in NZ's Plant-SyNZ database and all iNat observations are of adults.)
https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342713940
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #entomology #nz #iNaturalistNZ
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Here's another NZ moth wing for you.
This one is from a particularly elegant colour morph of a NZ Green Carpet Owlet (*Ichneutica plena*). Usually they're greener than this.
(I'm continuing to have fun uploading my big backlog of moth photos to #iNaturalist. Caution: there will be more moth photos.)
Whole moth on #iNaturalistNZ: https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342710304
Full-size on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55144902646/#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #insects #entomology #photography #nz
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I can get lost in moths. They're one of nature's art galleries.
Here's a close-up of the wings of NZ's Greater Alpine Grey (Ichneutica virescens).
You can zoom into the full-resolution version on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55143236921/
See the whole moth on iNaturalist NZ at: https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342554964
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Moth? Moth!
Here's the NZ endemic moth, the appropriately named Exquisite Carpet, *Asaphodes adonis*, which I just uploaded to #iNaturalist. It's known only from NZ's South Island.
It's always a treat to find these.
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It's a cold blustery cloudy day in much of Aotearoa-NZ (it's hailing outside as I type this) so to brighten up your day here's a snowberry yellow moth.
I just uploaded my photo from 2023 to #iNaturalist as I work through my backlog. It's now the 29th observation on iNat of the species and will be the 33rd on GBIF once my ID is confirmed.
As the name suggests, the caterpillars of this pretty yellow moth eat NZ snowberries (Gaultheria species).
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340853987
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55123719913/ -
Here's an excellent moth from my backlog that I just uploaded to #iNaturalist
It's the Purerehua, or South Island Lichen Moth, *Ipana egregia*. It's a large NZ endemic moth restricted to the South Island that blends in well with lichens on rocks.
This is the moth also seen on the NZ hundred dollar note.
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I've been continuing to upload my backlog of moth photos to #iNaturalist and am being reminded of how there are still *a lot* of NZ insects that don't have formal scientific descriptions and names.
Here are three of my recently uploaded moths that can only be identified to genus because they are unnamed. They've been given tag names on iNat while they wait in line for a taxonomist to figure out exactly what they are and how many species they are.
In 2010 it was estimated that about 11,000 endemic terrestrial insect species in NZ had names . About 7,000 were still waiting to be named. So, about two of every five NZ insects species still lack even a name.
That was mentioned in a report to government in 2021 about how we don't know if there's a general decline in endemic insects here. It concluded that "there are insufficient data to determine the overall state and trend of insect populations in Aotearoa New Zealand."
As a country we could be doing a lot more.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338694677
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339970870
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340090084
https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2024-01/PMCSA-21-10-02-V1-Intern-report-Jono-Sept-2021-final.pdf -
Here are two stylish NZ moths for your day.
There's the Green & Purple Carpet moth, *Hydriomena purpurifera*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339224798
And, there's the Yellow & Brown Carpet moth, *Asaphodes prasinias*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339224786
Caterpillars of the Yellow & Brown Carpet moth have been raised eating native buttercups. I'm not sure if anyone knows what caterpillars of the Green & Purple Carpet moth eat.
(I've just uploaded these moths to iNaturalist from some moth lighting in the North Canterbury Southern Alps from last January, as part of my ongoing push to upload my backlog of moth photos.)
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@stojg Here's a rare moth I see at home in Ōtautahi-Christchurch that should definitely win a fashion award. It's the Green Blotched Moth, *Cosmodes elegans*.
It's taken the fluffy brown moth aesthetic and jazzed it up with some striking green koru markings.
This species is native to Australia and has recently settled in NZ.
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Moths? Moths! Here are four NZ moths to brighten up your day.
All are NZ endemic species that I photohgraphed at a moth light at the Boyle Village in the Canterbury Southern Alps.
The yellow moth is the Aristotelia Looper *Epiphryne xanthaspis*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094321
The dark purple moth with lime green streaks is the Pate Owlet *Meterana merope*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094323
The tan-yellow moth with the chocolate brown underwings is the Dark Underwing Wainscot *Ichneutica sulcana*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094312
The steel-blue moth is *Physetica caerulea* (I don't think that has a common name yet): https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094297
(These are part of my large backlog of moth photos that I'm gradually uploading to iNaturalist.)
#Lepidoptera #mothodon #moths #entomology #NZ #iNaturalistNZ
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*Bascantis sirenica* is back!!
Last week Wellington-based naturalist Christopher Stephens found and photographed this small, dark purple moth with two pale spots. Christopher found it in the Tararua Ranges.
The species has not been seen since 1944! NZ's professional moth taxonomist Robert Hoare had feared it might be extinct. This is only the 7th time, ever, that this pretty little day-flying moth has been recorded.
*Bascantis sirenica* is a NZ endemic species and the only species in a NZ endemic genus. Welcome back!
There's still so much to learn about NZ moths.
The photo is CC-BY-SA by Christopher Stephens.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/337727454
#mothodon #moths #lepidoptera #entomology #nz #discovery #iNaturalist #inaturalistNZ #CitizenScience
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Introducing *Austramathes coelacantha*!
I uploaded this moth to iNaturalist from my moth lighting last month in the NZ mountains. It's now the first iNat record of this NZ endemic moth, which was first described as a species in 2017.
This adds to the five records of the species on GBIF from the NZ Arthropod Collection (four specimens from 1975 and one from 2023).
It's known (so far) from shrublands and beech forests of central and eastern South Island. Its caterpillars have not been confirmed yet, although they're expected to be on *Melicytus* (mahoe and relatives).
Big thanks go to NZ moth expert Neville Hudson for identifying this. Neville has so far made 171,359(!) species identifications on iNaturalist, almost all moths, and all done for free. It's an extraordinary contribution to our knowledge of NZ moths.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338636198
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #GBIF #entomology #CitizenScience
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Introducing *Austramathes coelacantha*!
I uploaded this moth to iNaturalist from my moth lighting last month in the NZ mountains. It's now the first iNat record of this NZ endemic moth, which was first described as a species in 2017.
This adds to the five records of the species on GBIF from the NZ Arthropod Collection (four specimens from 1975 and one from 2023).
It's known (so far) from shrublands and beech forests of central and eastern South Island. Its caterpillars have not been confirmed yet, although they're expected to be on *Melicytus* (mahoe and relatives).
Big thanks go to NZ moth expert Neville Hudson for identifying this. Neville has so far made 171,359(!) species identifications on iNaturalist, almost all moths, and all done for free. It's an extraordinary contribution to our knowledge of NZ moths.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338636198
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #GBIF #entomology #CitizenScience
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Introducing *Austramathes coelacantha*!
I uploaded this moth to iNaturalist from my moth lighting last month in the NZ mountains. It's now the first iNat record of this NZ endemic moth, which was first described as a species in 2017.
This adds to the five records of the species on GBIF from the NZ Arthropod Collection (four specimens from 1975 and one from 2023).
It's known (so far) from shrublands and beech forests of central and eastern South Island. Its caterpillars have not been confirmed yet, although they're expected to be on *Melicytus* (mahoe and relatives).
Big thanks go to NZ moth expert Neville Hudson for identifying this. Neville has so far made 171,359(!) species identifications on iNaturalist, almost all moths, and all done for free. It's an extraordinary contribution to our knowledge of NZ moths.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338636198
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #GBIF #entomology #CitizenScience
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Introducing *Austramathes coelacantha*!
I uploaded this moth to iNaturalist from my moth lighting last month in the NZ mountains. It's now the first iNat record of this NZ endemic moth, which was first described as a species in 2017.
This adds to the five records of the species on GBIF from the NZ Arthropod Collection (four specimens from 1975 and one from 2023).
It's known (so far) from shrublands and beech forests of central and eastern South Island. Its caterpillars have not been confirmed yet, although they're expected to be on *Melicytus* (mahoe and relatives).
Big thanks go to NZ moth expert Neville Hudson for identifying this. Neville has so far made 171,359(!) species identifications on iNaturalist, almost all moths, and all done for free. It's an extraordinary contribution to our knowledge of NZ moths.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338636198
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #GBIF #entomology #CitizenScience
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Introducing *Austramathes coelacantha*!
I uploaded this moth to iNaturalist from my moth lighting last month in the NZ mountains. It's now the first iNat record of this NZ endemic moth, which was first described as a species in 2017.
This adds to the five records of the species on GBIF from the NZ Arthropod Collection (four specimens from 1975 and one from 2023).
It's known (so far) from shrublands and beech forests of central and eastern South Island. Its caterpillars have not been confirmed yet, although they're expected to be on *Melicytus* (mahoe and relatives).
Big thanks go to NZ moth expert Neville Hudson for identifying this. Neville has so far made 171,359(!) species identifications on iNaturalist, almost all moths, and all done for free. It's an extraordinary contribution to our knowledge of NZ moths.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338636198
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #GBIF #entomology #CitizenScience
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The caterpillar of *Ipana junctiliniea* is equally stylish. Check out this photo by aharveydoc from July 2024 from Kahurangi National Park.
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I've been working through my moth light photos from up in the mountains of North Canterbury, NZ, last month, and getting them uploaded to #iNaturalist. Here's one of my favourites, the NZ endemic noctuid moth, *Ipana junctilinea*.
It’s like some World of Wearable Arts costume. And it doesn’t even have a common name yet!
(I'm also adding it to my list of Canterbury Wikipedia species pages that need work. It's got two sentences at the moment.)
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Today I learned more about Wasp Parasitizer Moths, in the genus Chalcoela.
Why do something dangerous like be out in the open for days eating cabbage leaves when you instead can be inside a *wasp nest* eating *wasp larvae*.
Respect.
(The moths are among candidates being considered for paper wasp biocontrol in the Pacific including NZ.)
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/29597
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19811.02086
https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/assets/Events/biosecurity-bonanza/2024/29-July-24-Brown-Biosecurity-bananas-paper-wasp-biocontrol.pdf#Chalcoela #moths #NaturalHistory #mothodon #Lepidoptera #entomology #TIL
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I'm up to 12 new moth species for our garden this year, thanks to the NZ moth identifiers on iNaturalist and the handy Compare tool on iNat. The Compare tool shows me what species are different between this year and my past years' mothing in my garden. It's handy.
Here are photos of four more of my newbies. These are more greys and browns. All are NZ endemic species.
#iNaturalistNZ #iNaturalist #moths #Mothodon #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz
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This evening I've been continuing to upload my week's home moth light photos to #iNaturalist. I'm up to 64 moth species this week, so far, 8 of which are new species for our garden.
This one is not new but I only saw one of them, once, this week, and every Dotted Green Carpet (Asaphodes beata) that visits is a treat.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/337528065
#mothodon #moths #nz #entomology #Asaphodes #Ōtautahi #Christchurch
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Here's another of the six new moth species to my garden this year, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This one had me puzzled until NZ moth expert Neville Hduson from Auckland identified it this morning on #iNaturalist.
It's the Australian Wattle Gall Miner, *Polysoma eumetalla*, and this is the third record of it on #GBIF from the South Island.
It's a pretty wee thing but easily overlooked because it's tiny (see the second photo of it next to a green garden looper moth).
Remarkably, its caterpillars make their living mining inside galls on some Australian wattle trees, which in NZ are formed by the Australian rust fungus *Uromycladium tepperianum*.
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #entomology #insects #iNaturalistNZ
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Here's another of the six new moth species to my garden this year, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This one had me puzzled until NZ moth expert Neville Hduson from Auckland identified it this morning on #iNaturalist.
It's the Australian Wattle Gall Miner, *Polysoma eumetalla*, and this is the third record of it on #GBIF from the South Island.
It's a pretty wee thing but easily overlooked because it's tiny (see the second photo of it next to a green garden looper moth).
Remarkably, its caterpillars make their living mining inside galls on some Australian wattle trees, which in NZ are formed by the Australian rust fungus *Uromycladium tepperianum*.
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #entomology #insects #iNaturalistNZ
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Here's another of the six new moth species to my garden this year, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This one had me puzzled until NZ moth expert Neville Hduson from Auckland identified it this morning on #iNaturalist.
It's the Australian Wattle Gall Miner, *Polysoma eumetalla*, and this is the third record of it on #GBIF from the South Island.
It's a pretty wee thing but easily overlooked because it's tiny (see the second photo of it next to a green garden looper moth).
Remarkably, its caterpillars make their living mining inside galls on some Australian wattle trees, which in NZ are formed by the Australian rust fungus *Uromycladium tepperianum*.
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #entomology #insects #iNaturalistNZ
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Here's another of the six new moth species to my garden this year, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This one had me puzzled until NZ moth expert Neville Hduson from Auckland identified it this morning on #iNaturalist.
It's the Australian Wattle Gall Miner, *Polysoma eumetalla*, and this is the third record of it on #GBIF from the South Island.
It's a pretty wee thing but easily overlooked because it's tiny (see the second photo of it next to a green garden looper moth).
Remarkably, its caterpillars make their living mining inside galls on some Australian wattle trees, which in NZ are formed by the Australian rust fungus *Uromycladium tepperianum*.
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #entomology #insects #iNaturalistNZ
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Here's another of the six new moth species to my garden this year, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This one had me puzzled until NZ moth expert Neville Hduson from Auckland identified it this morning on #iNaturalist.
It's the Australian Wattle Gall Miner, *Polysoma eumetalla*, and this is the third record of it on #GBIF from the South Island.
It's a pretty wee thing but easily overlooked because it's tiny (see the second photo of it next to a green garden looper moth).
Remarkably, its caterpillars make their living mining inside galls on some Australian wattle trees, which in NZ are formed by the Australian rust fungus *Uromycladium tepperianum*.
#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #entomology #insects #iNaturalistNZ
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I've been looking closer and admiring the hair do on this tiny clothes moth. The rest of its body is a dull brown but its hair piece is orange.
A ginger toupee?
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Each season I do four nights of moth lighting in my garden in suburban Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. My summer moth lighting this year started on Saturday. I photograph every moth that settles at my light and today I've been uploading my photos to #iNaturalist.
I've been doing this consistently each autumn since 2015 and every season each year since (at least) 2021. You might think I would have found all the moth species that visit my garden, but no.
So far I've finished uploading Saturday's moth photos and have found six new species to our garden. Here are four of them.
There's the endemic moth *Gymnobathra hamatella*:
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/337290749There's the "nationally vulnerable" endemic species *Gadira leucophthalma*:
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/337263605There's the endemic Clematis triangle *Deana hybreasalis*:
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/337285888Also, less ideal, there's the introduced Case-bearing Clothes Moth *Tinea pellionella*:
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/337285916#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ #insects #EcologicalMonitoring
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Between festive moths and grumpy moths are elegant moths. Here's one of the Opogona comptella that showed up at my moth light last night.
They'd look good on a runway in any high fashion show.
This one's an Australian species that established in northern NZ then spread southwards. Its caterpillars have been found eating dead wood.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/336923284
#mothodon #moths #insects #entomology #nz #Christchurch #Ōtautahi
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And, at the opposite extreme of moths from a huge and fluffy gum emperor moth, there was this minute brown Batrachedra moth.
Whereas the gum emperor moth is generally cheery, the Batrachedra looks grumpy. 😄
I saw one at my home moth light in January last year, and it's back again this year.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/336922795
#mothodon #moths #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #entomology #insects
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Check out this big gum emperor moth that visited my moth light at home last night, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.
I first thought there was a bird flapping in the bushes, before it appeared. This one was pinker than most I've seen, and it happily clambered about on its big fluffy feet.
They're more like Pokémon than real moths.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/336921630
#moths #mothodon #Christchurch #NZ #Ōtautahi #insects #entomology
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Oh, and here's the most elegant moth that flew into our moth lights this week.
It's the appropriately named Exquisite Olearia Owlet (*Meterana exquisita*) and we saw just one of them and it looks to be the first record of the species from North Canterbury.
Just look at it!
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/336654099
#BoyleRiverOutdoorEducationCentre #moth #iNaturalist #mothodon
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@Niall Yes, exactly. It’s crazy. Most NZ moths are almost cookie cutter consistent with their colours and markings yet a few are wildly variable. Two other notably variable common moths are the dark banded carpet moth, *Hydriomena deltoidata*, with all sorts and different patterns in dark and tan brown, and the New Zealand Looper *Epyaxa rosearia*, which is sometimes green and sometimes banded brown with different patterns.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations?place_id=6803&taxon_id=390771
https://inaturalist.nz/observations?place_id=6803&taxon_id=320914
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Here's my favourite moth find of the past week, which we saw at Hinewai Reserve over the hill from Akaroa, NZ. It's *Declana floccosa* which is quite variable in it's colours and patterns. This is the first one I've seen speckled with bright orange spots.
When I posted it on #iNaturalist, squidney8 posted a link of the local lichen, *Brigantiaea chrysosticta*, which also is grey with orange spots.
This colour morph of *Declana floccosa* would blend in incredibly well when on a *Brigantiaea chrysosticta*. Still, is it aware enough of its colour morph to known which background to sit on?
moth: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/330659205
lichen: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/55779194 -
I'm thinking more about the life cycle of these cinnabar moths. It's quite remarkable. The eggs get laid late spring and take about 2 weeks to hatch. The caterpillars eat for about a month through the summer. They then pupate, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
They wait through all of Autumn and Winter and early Spring.
Then, the adult moths emerge to mate and lay eggs and the cycle starts again.
They're dormant as pupae for about 10 months of every year!
https://digitallibrary.landcareresearch.co.nz/digital/api/collection/p20022coll21/id/41/download
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I'm thinking more about the life cycle of these cinnabar moths. It's quite remarkable. The eggs get laid late spring and take about 2 weeks to hatch. The caterpillars eat for about a month through the summer. They then pupate, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
They wait through all of Autumn and Winter and early Spring.
Then, the adult moths emerge to mate and lay eggs and the cycle starts again.
They're dormant as pupae for about 10 months of every year!
https://digitallibrary.landcareresearch.co.nz/digital/api/collection/p20022coll21/id/41/download
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I'm thinking more about the life cycle of these cinnabar moths. It's quite remarkable. The eggs get laid late spring and take about 2 weeks to hatch. The caterpillars eat for about a month through the summer. They then pupate, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
They wait through all of Autumn and Winter and early Spring.
Then, the adult moths emerge to mate and lay eggs and the cycle starts again.
They're dormant as pupae for about 10 months of every year!
https://digitallibrary.landcareresearch.co.nz/digital/api/collection/p20022coll21/id/41/download
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I'm thinking more about the life cycle of these cinnabar moths. It's quite remarkable. The eggs get laid late spring and take about 2 weeks to hatch. The caterpillars eat for about a month through the summer. They then pupate, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
They wait through all of Autumn and Winter and early Spring.
Then, the adult moths emerge to mate and lay eggs and the cycle starts again.
They're dormant as pupae for about 10 months of every year!
https://digitallibrary.landcareresearch.co.nz/digital/api/collection/p20022coll21/id/41/download
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I'm thinking more about the life cycle of these cinnabar moths. It's quite remarkable. The eggs get laid late spring and take about 2 weeks to hatch. The caterpillars eat for about a month through the summer. They then pupate, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
They wait through all of Autumn and Winter and early Spring.
Then, the adult moths emerge to mate and lay eggs and the cycle starts again.
They're dormant as pupae for about 10 months of every year!
https://digitallibrary.landcareresearch.co.nz/digital/api/collection/p20022coll21/id/41/download
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Look! Cinnabar moth!
Last summer I was surprised to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on the native pahokoraka, Senecio quadridentatus, in the middle of Christchurch city, NZ. Cinnabar moths were released to control the European pasture weed ragwort back in the 1940s.
I collected four caterpillars and fed them on pahokoraka leaves until they pupated on 16 January. I put them on some scrunched up newsprint in a plastic container and put that outside in a shaded area of our garden. Today, three adult moths emerged.
They're day-flying moths which retain the poisons of their host plants and advertise that to would-be predators with their bright colours,
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Look! Cinnabar moth!
Last summer I was surprised to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on the native pahokoraka, Senecio quadridentatus, in the middle of Christchurch city, NZ. Cinnabar moths were released to control the European pasture weed ragwort back in the 1940s.
I collected four caterpillars and fed them on pahokoraka leaves until they pupated on 16 January. I put them on some scrunched up newsprint in a plastic container and put that outside in a shaded area of our garden. Today, three adult moths emerged.
They're day-flying moths which retain the poisons of their host plants and advertise that to would-be predators with their bright colours,
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Look! Cinnabar moth!
Last summer I was surprised to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on the native pahokoraka, Senecio quadridentatus, in the middle of Christchurch city, NZ. Cinnabar moths were released to control the European pasture weed ragwort back in the 1940s.
I collected four caterpillars and fed them on pahokoraka leaves until they pupated on 16 January. I put them on some scrunched up newsprint in a plastic container and put that outside in a shaded area of our garden. Today, three adult moths emerged.
They're day-flying moths which retain the poisons of their host plants and advertise that to would-be predators with their bright colours,
-
Look! Cinnabar moth!
Last summer I was surprised to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on the native pahokoraka, Senecio quadridentatus, in the middle of Christchurch city, NZ. Cinnabar moths were released to control the European pasture weed ragwort back in the 1940s.
I collected four caterpillars and fed them on pahokoraka leaves until they pupated on 16 January. I put them on some scrunched up newsprint in a plastic container and put that outside in a shaded area of our garden. Today, three adult moths emerged.
They're day-flying moths which retain the poisons of their host plants and advertise that to would-be predators with their bright colours,
-
Look! Cinnabar moth!
Last summer I was surprised to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on the native pahokoraka, Senecio quadridentatus, in the middle of Christchurch city, NZ. Cinnabar moths were released to control the European pasture weed ragwort back in the 1940s.
I collected four caterpillars and fed them on pahokoraka leaves until they pupated on 16 January. I put them on some scrunched up newsprint in a plastic container and put that outside in a shaded area of our garden. Today, three adult moths emerged.
They're day-flying moths which retain the poisons of their host plants and advertise that to would-be predators with their bright colours,
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@dubh Thanks. Izatha are something special. I get three species in our garden, and I saw them all this Spring. Two are pale with the zig-zag patterning (Izatha huttonii and Izatha katadiktya) and one is grey with more subtle patterns (Izatha convulsella).
Of course, the Queen of the Lichen Moths is not an Izatha but an Ipana. In the South Island we have the Purerehua, Ipana egregia. That is found on Banks Peninsula but I've not had one of these in our garden (yet).
A couple of weeks back I was talking with NZ lepidopterist Brian Patrick who told me that he suggested to the Reserve Bank that this moth should be on a dollar note. It's now the one on the NZ$100. So thanks Brian.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/260786636
#mothodon #moths #nz #LichenMoth