Thanks, Sergio. I reckon he's better off with his curlew job, not a stupid human one! And I can't tell the difference between male and female curlews anyway, so I don't know what this one is. I can barely tell the difference with people these days. Whoever needs the bathroom can use it! :)
A spectacular yellow female of the Silkworm Moth Copaxa lavender. She has a wing span of almost 8 cm! She arrived about 2 in the morning and was very tame. Her body is furry yellow with pink legs and well marked spiracles on the abdomen. Family Saturniidae.
Bush stone-curlew's are large, slim, mainly nocturnal, ground-dwelling birds, and are endemic to Australia. Although they look rather like a wading bird and are related to the oystercatchers, avocets and plovers, they are a terrestrial predator filling an ecological niche similar to that of the roadrunners of North America. They specialise in hunting small grassland animals: frogs, spiders, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken. This species is classifies as endangered in NSW and Victoria. They range throughout most of Australia and were formerly quite common, but have declined in numbers through habitat loss and predation by foxes and feral cats. Other states are reasonably secure.
Another Exidia species found in our oak forest, third in the series. This one takes an irregular shape of a gelatinous, dark-brown to black, somewhat ear-like lumps growing from decaying larger branches and logs. These lumps do not touch, and are a less jelly-like on touch than the previous species; they are a bit firmer. This biggest form here was less than 10cm large.
A beautiful, delicate looking, white and brown-black coloured moth. It could be easily mistaken for a butterfly, especially when its wings are in open position. The base and disc area of the fore wing were predominantly white. There was an irregular brown area followed by white spots on parts of the wing area. The apex and marginal areas are brown-black. There was a white spot of black on the margin towards the apex on both the upper fore wing and hind wing. Both the head and the tip of the abdomen had orange-yellow colour. Thorax had black stripe on white. There was black spots running along the abdomen.
A beautiful, delicate looking, white and brown-black coloured moth. It could be easily mistaken for a butterfly, especially when its wings are in open position. The base and disc area of the fore wing were predominantly white. There was an irregular brown area followed by white spots on parts of the wing area. The apex and marginal areas are brown-black. There was a white spot of black on the margin towards the apex on both the upper fore wing and hind wing. Both the head and the tip of the abdomen had orange-yellow colour. Thorax had black stripe on white. There was black spots running along the abdomen.