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Helena Gum Moth - male

Opodiphthera helena

Description:

This handsome moth had beautiful shades of yellow, green and purple on the wings. Partially seen hindwings were a bright yellowish orange. The slightly hooked wing tips were wrinkled. Wing span would have been about 15 cms. The body was covered with dense short setae which was yellow except for the belly and a band on head. Small brown spots were seen on the sides of the abdomen. Antennae were short and feathery.

Habitat:

Spotted near a National Park with mixed natives ( mostly Eucalyptus) on a warm night.

Notes:

Here's a female seen last year in the same area
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/187... These appear to come in a variety of colours ! Still learning the differences between this species and the closely related Emperor Gum Moth.
Family: Saturniidae

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9 Comments

Leuba Ridgway
Leuba Ridgway 8 years ago

Thanks Stephen. Hope the rest of the season's good -nothing else so far.

StephenSolomons
StephenSolomons 8 years ago

Wow, you guys have had a great start to the season. Very nice

Leuba Ridgway
Leuba Ridgway 8 years ago

Thank you Ashley for the nomination.

AshleyT
AshleyT 8 years ago

Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!

Leuba Ridgway
Leuba Ridgway 8 years ago

Thanks Antonio & Jim.

Jim Nelson
Jim Nelson 8 years ago

Nice spotting and summary, Leuba...Well Done!

Awesome find Leuba,just beautiful,congrats and thanks for sharing

Leuba Ridgway
Leuba Ridgway 8 years ago

Your welcome triggsturner. He is truly amazing - especially the colours, like a work of art in pastels.

triggsturner
triggsturner 8 years ago

Magnificent moth Leuba. Thanks for sharing it.

Leuba Ridgway
Spotted by
Leuba Ridgway

Victoria, Australia

Spotted on Oct 25, 2016
Submitted on Oct 26, 2016

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Emperor Gum Moth Emperor gum moth Emperor Moth Emperor gum moth larva

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