Moth ID

[Julian Robinson <>]

Lindsay  - this moth gets a fair bit of attention from
COGers!    I and several other COGers have photographed it
at different times, with the same question.  It was identified
(probably courtesy Steve Holliday) as a Heliotrope Moth Utetheisa
pulchelloides and this seems to be generally agreed.   It's
a Tiger Moth although it doesn't look like one to me.

Family:

        

Arctiidae
Subfamily:

     

 Arctiinae
Genus:

 

 Utetheisa
Tribe:

 

       

Callimorphini

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozjulian/2365161748/ my photo with some
discussion about occurrence
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/kookr/2367812088/  David Cook's
photo, closer and more detail
m("N00/4469649806/","//www.flickr.com/photos/50364443");" eudora="autourl">
 http: Stuart Harris's
photo just recently.
 http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_tigermoths/HeliotropeMoth.htm
  even closer, and some info.

It does seem to be an Autumn moth because all the photos that appeared on
flickr were taken about Easter, +/- .
Then again as I say that I see the above last-linked site says
"early to late summer".  Maybe in the Flickr-noted year
there was an outbreak of them in Autumn. Or maybe Autumn here in the
south, summer in the north.

There's scads of info on the net. My detailed post is because I've been
discussing this moth with another member on recent trips, and been
meaning to get the info together.

Cheers
Julian



At 08:10 PM 3/05/2010, Lindsay Hansch wrote:
> I know this is not
> a bird ? but it flies.  I photographed this moth at Cocoparra
> National Park on Saturday.  My research indicates a Crimson Speckled
> (Utetheisa pulchella) but I can find no indication that it exists in
> Australia.  Indeed its usual range is shown as Mediterranean Europe
> to Africa and Middle East.  However, I found records on the web of
> it occurring in the UK and West Indies so anything is possible.  Can
> anyone shed any light on it.
>  
> Lindsay Hansch
>
>
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