Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Wattle Goat Moth

Endoxyla encalypti

Description:

"Endoxyla encalypti, the "wattle goat moth", is a large moth of the family Cossidae and is native to Australia. The forewings are speckled grey and brown with light and dark streaks. The hindwings are reddish brown, becoming grey brown at the margins." (Wikipedia) Looking very tattered and missing a limb, this specimen was spent. I doubt she would have survived the day. NB: This was a very large moth, and that's why I've selected E. encalypti as the spotting ID. It's single wingspan can reach up to 10 cms, and that seems realistic from my recollections. An almost identical species is E. lituratus, also commonly known as "wattle goat moth", but it's a smaller species with a wingspan of about 7 cms. If the information is correct, that's a considerable difference. http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au... I wish now I had placed a common object next to the moth to give a sense of scale.

Habitat:

This car park and dock area is floodlit at night, so that really attracts the moths. There is also a wetland area nearby plus an abundance of native acacia species trees and shrubs, which the larvae feed on. "They initially bore into the trunks of their host plant, down to the roots. Full-grown larvae bore a hole in the soil, from the root up to the surface. Pupation takes place within this tunnel.... This species has been recorded along the eastern coast from Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania." (Wikipedia)

Notes:

What I thought would be an easy spotting to identify turned out to be anything but. I looked at a number of sites and consulted my local reference books, to no avail. However, on my second attempt I came across the following site, and when I saw their photo I knew I was on the right track. Once I had a common name, the rest just fell into place. https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2011/11/06/...

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

6 Comments

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 4 years ago

Nah, she was done. More falling than revving.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 4 years ago

Did you see it take off? They have to rev their wings up for about 20 seconds before pulling the levers back.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 4 years ago

I'm surprised the bin was still standing. ;-)

Yes difficult to be certain about the ID. Pleased to see yours and mine look fairly similar then lol.

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 4 years ago

It was a big commercial wheely bin too! Almost crushed! Urban legends have to start somewhere, right?

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 4 years ago

Thanks, Mark. A first encounter for me. She was on the bin and I couldn't miss her. I was totally impressed by her size, but sadly she was in very poor condition.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 4 years ago

Wonderful find.

Neil Ross
Spotted by
Neil Ross

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Spotted on Dec 18, 2019
Submitted on Dec 27, 2019

Related Spottings

Endoxyla sp. Wood Moth Endoxyla sp. Wattle Goat Moth

Nearby Spottings

Python kills Possum Sacred Kingfisher (male) Emerald Moth Sacred Kingfisher (juvenile)
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team