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endoxyla lituratus
Great big moth, approximately 7cm long. Although, as the name implies, this is the small one while the Large wattle goat moth is about twice as big. This one is probably a female as males are smaller and have more plumed looking antennae.
Dry sclerophyll bushland.
I found her on a fence post, took her off for some photos, and then put her in the barn so she had a safe place to wait out the day. We are currently in the middle of a huge moth hatching, with dozens of species coming to our windows each night.
Spotted on Feb 12, 2011
Submitted on Feb 12, 2011
8 Comments
BTW I don't think the experts even agree yet on which one is which yet. I have found at least 3 'Wattle goat moths' so far. Here's one more your size... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/... and http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au...
Yours is certainly a good visual match to Tony D's. I wonder where the size difference has gone. Far too much for species variation.
Mark, I made my initial id based on my copy of 'Wings'. Yes, it was larger than the norm. I've done a bit of looking around, and the web site 'Insects of Tasmania' has very similar photos here: https://sites.google.com/site/insectsoft...
Hi lori. You might want to recheck species on this one. From most doco I think yours is at least twice the size of E lituratus (70mm wingspan) It might be because of the rains 2-3 years ago but Leuba and I are inundated with cossids at the moment and finding an incredible range of sizes and species. A great opportunity to learn more about them.
Thanks, Leanne. We have two large wooden sheds, and these goat moths like to hang out inside them during the days. If you're keen eyed, you can spot them. Caught a Granny moth the other evening, but it was too frantic to let me get a photo, so I let her go. Hope I can get a photo of one someday. Very pretty. http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Granny%2...
That is one beautiful moth :)
I agree!! I like moths :)
beautiful moth lori!