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Project Noah Nature School
Opodiphthera helena
This beauty had a wing span of about 15 cms. The fore wings had down-curved apices with a pale patch and a dark tear-drop mark. In the middle of each fore wing was an eye spot with a dark ring around it and a whit espot in the middle. The pale sub marginal area had a dark inner border. Legs were covered with dense setae with dark bands around the tarsi. The Antennae were tucked under the wings, thick but not feathery suggesting that this was a female.
Spotted resting high up on the wall at the local CFA - next to the Dandenong Ranges National Park.
These moths are seen in tall damp eucalyptus forests -eastern New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, south west Western Australia.
The caterpillars feed on gum leaves.
It is a pity i could not reach it to coax it open its wings -would have loved to have seen the hind wings.
An exciting find !
A male was spotted a year later in the same place:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/102...
Closely related to the Emperor Gum Moth (O. eucalypti)
Family: Saturniidae
Spotted on Oct 11, 2015
Submitted on Oct 11, 2015
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