Aussie Moths

This rather fantastic Black-footed Gondwanan Katydid (Metholce nigritarsis) was a recent visitor to our Perth Hills moth light.

These amazing Katydids have been recorded in all states around Australia except the NT.

#ausinverts #wildoz #Orthoptera #Katydid #inaturalist #nature #bugsky

Top view of a female moth with brown wings that have a pattern of darker flecks on them.

Sigilliclystis insigillata - Insigillated Pug

Our moth light was inundated with these Pugs last night, there must have been 60 or more.

Not sure what triggered this mass emergence as not much is known about the caterpillars of these moths

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

There’s no really up to date Aussie moth reference book, sadly… but there is a good set of webpages. It’s a case of trawling those webpages and iNaturalist, which is main recording platform used by most here. We also have a lot of undescribed species, which adds to the fun!

I love the colours on this one!

Side view of a moth with wings that have a white area that nerves into a darker speckled area. There are three spots near the ends of the wings and various patches of burnt orange in the lower parts of the forewings

Eupselia sp.

This beautiful moth visited our Perth Hills garden in mid-February. It’s possibly a Common Eupselia (Eupselia carpocapsella), but I’ve never seen one with such lovely colours before.

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

Side view of a small moth around 5-6mm in length with wings that are pale yellow with zigzag brown patches and a grey stripe down the length of them

Mystery Moths 🧐🔍

We record numerous moths that I’ve not been able to ID… yet.

Like this lovely micro moth that we see quite a lot at the minute which I think is one of the Feather-legged moths (Family Stathmopodidae).

#teammoth #mysterymoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

Side view of a moth with pale fawn/gold wings that have two small black spots in the middle. The moth has a large black eye and obvious curved palps

Top view of a moth with pale fawn/gold wings that have two small black spots in the middle. The moth has a large black eyes and holds its wings in a tented manner

Acanthodela protophaes

One of the Concealer moths and one we’ve only recorded twice in our Perth Hills garden, both times in summer. It took me a while to ID this moth as there are only 4 other records of it in WA on iNat.

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

They are cute… but they can be really noisy too! Especially if they manage to get into your roof space. Can be an ongoing battle to keep them out!

A picture of a Common Brushtail Possum lying on a wooden beam and looking towards the camera. The possum has quite dark fur, mainly grey with some areas of rusty brown, along with a few white patches.

Trichosurus vulpecula - Common Brushtail Possum

One of our nocturnal garden dwellers. The Common Brushtail Possum is endemic to Australia and often seen in built-up areas.

#auswildlife #wildoz #marsupial #possum #WorldWildlifeDay #inaturalist #nature

Those are some very nice moths! I may be a tiny bit jealous 😁

The Small Marbled you get in the UK has lovely markings!

Those are very cute!

A rather beautifully coloured curved-horn moth! Nice

Thanks! I’m on a bit of a mission to persuade people that moths aren’t brown and boring but are actually really amazing.

Not sure what the moth is doing…. But it does look a bit like it’s having a quick taste doesn’t it 🤔

😂

No idea what the moth is doing! Maybe just a convenient spot to land at a busy light sheet

Garrha pudica - moth with beige wings and several dark spots

Eublemma inconspicua - moth with creamy wings and a darker stripe across them

Thallarcha eremicola - moth with white wings with dark spots on them

Earias huegeliana - Rough Bollworm - moth with pale wings with green markings and spots

There’s been a bright moon the last two nights but we’ve still had a bit of variety in the moth visitors to our Perth Hills garden, including:

Garrha pudica
Eublemma inconspicua
Thallarcha eremicola
Earias huegeliana

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist #nature

Side view of a moth with pearly white forewings that have a darker brown stripe across them. The dark brown band has raised scales visible

Piloprepes antidoxa

A distinctive micro moth that we are seeing quite frequently in the Perth Hills at the minute. This species is endemic to Australia where it has been recorded on iNat in all areas except QLD and the NT.

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

Top view of a moth with patchy black, white, and brown wings, with a pale winding line running across them

Corgatha pleuroplaca

This beautiful moth was definitely the standout of last night’s moth visitors. This species is endemic Western Australia but seems to only be recorded infrequently with just 16 records in iNat.

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

Article pdf can be read in full through the link below 🦋

#teammoth #mothsmatter #caterpillarscount #Lepidoptera

Picture of a small, round bug that is mainly brown with some grey patches and which has big eyes and short spindly legs

This rather adorable Pebblebug (tribe Lipocalliini) visited our Perth Hills moth light this week. These guys are a type of planthopper (Fulgoromorpha) and can be found around Australia

#ausinverts #wildoz #Hemiptera #inaturalist #nature

Picture of a long, thin beetle that is generally black with an orange patch halfway along its back and at the tip of its abdomen which is eating another black beetle whilst a small, grey micro moth stands on the beetle being eaten.

Well, there's a bit going on this picture!

A beetle from the genus Notopilo is apparently dining on another poor beetle whilst a tiny micro moth, possibly from the genus Leptozestis, stands on his dinner and watches

#ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #Coleoptera #inaturalist #nature

Nacoleia mesochlora - top view of a moth with forewings that are generally dark brown with a broad irregular cream band across them. At the edges of the wings, in the cream band, are three dark brown semicircles

Nacoleia rhoeoalis - top view of a moth with brown forewings that each have a white bar and dark zig zag lines. The antennae have a sharpish bend in them

Two moths from the same Crambid Snout Moth genus seen in our Perth Hills garden in the last week, Nacoleia mesochlora and Nacoleia rhoeoalis.

We see N. rhoeoalis quite frequently, but we've only seen N. mesochlora a handful of times in the last 18 months.

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera

A tiny moth, 2cm, the background is a shiny white, with water droplets, the moth has white wings, with brown lines and bands, and chequered edges. The leading edge of the wings has dark spots.

Moth of the night, a tiny one in the sink.
Two spotted China mark,
Parapoynx dentizonalis
Townsville, North Queensland
#moths
#entemology
#Australianwildlife

Lovely moth!

Side view of a moth with brown forewings that have a broad, looping vibrant green pattern across them

Cosmodes elegans - Green-blotched Moth

These lovely moths are relatively frequent visitors to our Perth Hills garden but it’s lovely to see them every time!

These moths are native to Australia and can be seen in most areas except the NT.

#teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

Thanks for the extra info. As far as I can tell the only Phyllonorycter species recorded in Australia is P. messaniella. However, those records are from eastern states… none are recorded in WA. For now I’ve recorded this as genus Phyllonorycter only to be cautious

Amazing picture of that micro moth! Much better than mine.

As of the 13/02/26, the Mount Donna Buang wingless stonefly (Riekoperla darlingtoni), has been listed as critically endangered, with a habitat range of 1km2. New nominations are due on the 31st of March. Contact the AES conservation committee if you wish nominate a species for listing.