The Pasture Day Moth.

Apina callisto, (Agaristinae) is a little unusual in that is a day flying Noctuid moth, and based on recent experience it doesn’t appear to come to the moth light at night. After the welcome rain, grass and weed growth has been prolific, and at the moment these moths are in numbers with males in pursuit of females. Their flight is swift and erratic and hard to follow, they are very wary, and hard to approach on the odd occasion when they land. Two sessions in the paddock with the 200 mm macro lens resulted in just three keepers, two males briefly perched on grass seedheads, and a mating pair tucked away in some capeweed which is one of the larval food plants. The larvae tunnel into the ground where they pupate.

Mating pair, female on the right with simple antennae.

Horizontal shots will enlarge with a click.

The Rain Moth.

Abantiades atripalpis, formerly known as Trictena atripalpis is a large Hepialid that commonly comes to light when autumn rains are falling, hence the name Rain Moth. The female lays an astonishing number of eggs, over forty thousand have been recorded, they are scattered on the ground as she flies and the rain may help to wash them into cover. The larvae live under ground feeding on tree roots, and after the adults emerge the pupal cases may be found protruding from the ground. Recently, on a night when soft rain was falling, this male came to the verandah light, and after fluttering around for a short time settled on the tiles for the photograph.

Click to enlarge.