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Nemophora sparsella
A tiny moth (8mm long) with very long antennae and vivid metallic colours. Very busy burrowing around and feeding from small Leptospermum flowers.
Local nature reserve. Glenfern Valley Reserve.
At last ! I've been trying to snap this little moth for a few years. They are so busy, so aware, and so small. Day flying flower feeder. Lifer.
Species ID from Ken Walker "There are two species down here: Nemophora topazias and N. sparsella. Nemophora topazias is a species from Acacia that seems to be more often seen in autumn. It can be separated from N. sparsella as it has a yellow basal spot on the forewing."
family: ADELIDAE
subfamily: ADELINAE
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:b...
Spotted on Oct 18, 2015
Submitted on Oct 18, 2015
8 Comments
Congrats Mark. He was worth the wait :)
Species changed to N sparsella (only 2 possibilities and N tapasias flies in Autumn)
Thanks for the lovely comments everyone. :)
I've adjusted the ID to genus because this one (having a yellow head) might be an undescribed. Updates to come.
Beautiful little moth!!! Nice spotting Mark...
Congratulations on capturing such an elusive moth! Very beautiful!
Nice one...well rewarded for your patience :D
I also like the colors!
What a little beauty Mark! Well worth the wait :)