Friday 26 August 2016

Not so crimson

Found a moth on the window last night that I hadn't seen previously and as a bonus it was quite  distinctive, so I figured it would be not too difficult to identify. Wrong, I scoured the sources and could not get a moth that looked like this one, but the closest I could find gave the clue;  I read that the markings could be quite variable.


All the ones that I could see of the likely species, in the identification sources, had vey different markings on the wings, regarding of the direction and their number. However when I checked images of the species I found many variations of the markings and a few close to this one.
What I didn't see was the crimson colours that are hidden under the wings and on the upper body. However other identification points match, so I concluded that this is an exqmple of a Crimson Tiger Moth Spilososma curvata. They are found in Queensland. NSW and Victoria wher the caterpillars feed on herbacious plants such as dandelions, geraniums and beans.

 

2 comments:

  1. What a beautiful moth :) Moth id can be so difficult at times especially when you get species with wide variations in marking or worn individuals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pleased to have found this one and managed a couple of photos. The ID did take some time but by process of elimination I finally arrived at the name.
      Thanks again for your interest in the blog:)

      Delete