1 February 2010

I’ve done a bit of housekeeping on the site, in particular reorganising my Moth Identification pages into Families/Subfamilies and my Moth Art and Mechandise pages. Some new art work which has not been on site before is included. Dave Rentz put me onto the art work of Christopher Marley. CBS segment worth a look here. And his book, Pheromone here - some beautiful beetles and arrangements.

My last moth of the Update was labelled Eublemma sp. This and the other Eublemma on my identification pages stimulated Klaus Gottschaldt and Egbert Friedrich to initiate a discussion with Ted Edwards and Glen Cocking from ANIC. I have now revised my Eublemma identifications according to the information provided by Glenn via Klaus. However, Ted did point out that the Genus Eublemma ‘needs revision’. So, as Klaus said: ‘There is no definite answer yet’. Many thanks guys!

When I go on my morning tour of the magic light posts in Kuranda - with more ease now that I’ve got a tin left knee - the actual metals involved my doctor tells me are cobalt/chrome and titanium - I rarely come home empty-handed. Even if the moths are scarce I often pick up a good shot of some beetle or other critter like this cute little Dainty Tree Frog (Litoria gracilenta) which has been literally hanging around for the last week. Probably zapping all the micro moths that come to his/her post.

The moths have not been scarce since the wet season started. Indeed, I must mention the squadrons of Grammodes oculicola. Since touring the magic posts I have witnessed outpourings of Utethesia lotrix or pulchelloides - indistinguishable from photographs only - and Maceda mansueta. But on one recent morning I witnessed at least 100 oculicola. I did photograph one or two hoping for an oculata (very similar?) or an ocellata but I’m pretty sure they were all oculicola.

Before I sign off I’d like to mention that I’ve given myself the task of reviewing (or writing an essay around) Richard Dawkins latest offering, The Greatest Show on Earth - the evidence for evolution. And if you haven’t seen the book I must tell you that the cover design is based on Moths!!!!!

Til next update

                                                                                                            Cheers Buck

           

15 July 2009

Moth of the update is the first female version I have sighted of Ambulyx dohertyi.

I have seen so many Argina astraea in their usual resting position with their hindwings hidden that it was also a highlight to see one showing the hindwings.

And speaking of hindwings, a friend, who I meet nearly every morning I’m up in Kuranda checking out the lights - he’s walking his three little shitsu dogs (apologies to dog lovers if I’ve spelt that incorrectly - the little white cute fluffy things - but dogs always conjure up either sound images or odorous images for me) - had been telling me of this big brown moth with red underwings he wanted to show me. He’d accidentally killed it and put it in his freezer. On the very morning he remembered to bring it in I found Phyllodes imperialis for the first time. I took the side shots and tried to tease it open and saw the brilliant red underwings. This time I had no opportunity to photograph it open as it flew off . . . only to be taken by a spangled drongo. So, the following image is a doctored P. imperialis, the one from the freezer with a head transplant from my ‘catch’.

Had some luck at the Mareeba Art Show, winning the Digital Art Award with Web of Moths which was printed on vinyl and mounted on a 90cm aluminium disc - sold it too.

  No news on whether I made it into the Blake Prize though as they get about 1200 entries nationwide and only about 70 get picked I’m not all that optimistic. My second entry was called, The Gift.       

                         

Finally the so-called ‘beetle gem’ which I showed last update . . .

Geoff Montieth sent me an email explaining that it was not in fact a beetle at all. I’m sure he won’t mind me quoting his explanation:

Your latest is one of those tricky bugs that look very beetle-ish. We entomologists like to keep the term “bug” just for the “real” bugs which are sucking (and often smelly) insects belonging to the Order Hemiptera. And we’re a bit iffy about the modern tendency in Australia to use “bug” for all insects (a practice which started to infiltrate from America about the same time McDonald Restaurants did the same). Beetle have biting jaws and two wing covers which meet in a straight line down the middle of the back when folded at rest. Normal bugs have a little triangular area between the base of the wings called the scutellum greatly enlarged into a shield that completely covers the wings and the whole back half of the beast. Your latest critter (oops! I fear that’s another Americanism) is one of these and the name of that particular species is Calliphara regalis. Calliphara means “shrouded in beauty”, and regalis is self-evident, so the guy (I mean bloke) who named it (Linneaus’s offsider, Johann Fabricius, in 1775) was clearly impressed. The species occurs all through Indonesia and it comes down the Peninsula as far as Wet Tropics Australia. The species normally has two median placed dark blotches seen on the scutellum in your pic, but the third one on the left hand side isn’t normal and is probably the scar from a wound at some stage of its moulting to adult.

Til next update                                                                                    Cheers Buck

16 September 2009

Over this period I was given free run of the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. I had fantasised about doing a butterfly ball to go with my moth globe and knowing how hard butterflies are to photograph thought I might get a better chance as they emerged from their cocoons. I was disappointed to find that only 8 species were being bred. Understandable once one realised how much specialised food the caterpillars require.

And it seems most butterfly aviaries in Australia use the same species. Nevertheless I did get good shots of all the contenders to compile a set of greeting cards. Here’s my favourite: the mating of the birdwings.

An interesting story emerged too. The sign inside the aviary indicated that one of the butterfly species was the Blue Eggfly. After several visits I had not seen any so, I asked one of the workers. Apparently the Sanctuary used to have Blue Eggfly but the males were getting into the common eggfly and their hybrid offspring were infertile. The blues had to go. (Reminds me of the story of Noah holding up the platypus and asking: OK, who’s been getting into the ducks?)

Speaking of hybrids, I was contacted by Robert Vuattoux from France who had this request:

Bonjour,

I am a French researcher interested in relationships between wild silkmoth throughout the world. I make hybridization experiments and I am looking for some (just some) living cocoons from moths. Maybe can you help me in this quest. I am particularly interested in Coscinocera and Opodiphthera genus .

Best wishes

Robert

In a later email Robert attached a sample of his work, a hybrid male Graellsia isabellae (France) x Actias dubernardi (China). The moth was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately I cannot show you the image here as it is copyrighted to another site, but I have linked images of the source moths, stunning in their own right. If anyone can help Robert you can contact him here.

Now, I took a photo of O. fervida some time ago. I didn’t put it up as it was a quite a battered specimen and I thought that I was bound to see more Opodiphthera. Alas, not another one has been spotted. So I took my image to what I call the ‘moth hospital’ and you can see it as a new listing in the Saturniidae.

Cosmothology (see June Update) was short-listed to get hung in the finalist exhibition (80 finalists) for the Blake Prize but missed out. However, it did make it into the Director’s Cut online exhibition which features 100 of the short-listed entries. This is a National Exhibition and there were in excess of 1000 entries. The online exhibition runs from 7 October to 7 November on the Blake site. So, some national exposure for our winged wonders.

Well, I’m off to get a new knee on October 2 so this will be my last update for a little while. The prospect is somewhat daunting - all the special recovery equipment left by Community Health!!! It seems things have to get a lot worse before they can get better.

      

Til next update

                                                                                                            Cheers Buck

           

10 December 2008

I’ve chosen Glyphodes multilinealis as my moth of the month.                                                   

The Glyphodes genus is one of my favourites and scored two other species, G. microta and G. onychinalis this month. But I want to feature a few oldies for which I got better photographs than previously too. In particular was C. cedilla sitting on a column at the Bottom Pub one morning - only the second time I’ve seen this moth. Xenogenes miranda is a beautiful moth with a name to match (only a third sighting). I’ve seen plenty of D. senex but I really liked this one showing the underwing.

On my morning trips into Kuranda to check out the magic moth posts just after dawn each day I often come home with what I call collateral catches. Indeed, I’ve started to build up quite a bag of beetles. Who knows, a few more years and I might be able to bring out a new book: Beetles - The White Album.

Have a great Xmas.

                                                                                                              Cheers Buck                   

1 March 2009

Eve and I took a break at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast between 15 January and 9 February. While home in Kuranda was inundated in our absence and Victoria was ablaze, Coolum was near perfect. Eve did lots of beach walking (myself being much restricted and almost certainly in need of a knee replacement). Here is a small sample of the great atmospheric shots she took on her perambulations. She also had an eye out for shell treasure which she brought back to me to do some macro shots - nearly as beautiful as moths. I feel some shell-art coming on!                                           

On Boxing Day a call from a friend sent me scurrying down to the end of our road to see and record an amazing drama. An amethystine python, about 5 metres long, had taken a large wallaby in broad daylight. Once the wallaby was dead, the snake dragged it off the lawn to a hollow where the meal was consumed holus-bolus.

Moth of the month is Alypophanes iridocosma Noctuidae Acontiinae. The number of times I’ve thumbed through my Guide to Australian Moths and passed over Alypophanes . . . As soon as I saw it sitting on the light post I knew where to identify it . . . such a striking little moth!

Till next time

                   Cheers Buck                   

1 June 2009

23 new species on the identification pages this quarter - now over 550 moth images on these pages -  plus some interesting new unidentifieds. Three of the identifications were done with Dave Rentz at the DPI collection in Mareeba.

Moth of the quarter is the so-called 4 o’clock moth (sighted at 7.30am) Dysphania numana, which is certainly a stand out among the GGs.

A close second and worthy of presentation here, was Eudocima fullonia. This genus usually rest in the wing wrap position. After I’d secured some good lateral shots I decided to give it a nudge with my finger to see if it would open up, nothing to lose now if it flew off. The orange flash of the underwings was arresting but the moth quickly folded up. I persisted, all the time expecting the moth to escape my harassment. However, patience prevailed and it eventually - now I’m going to blatantly anthropomorphise - spread its wings reluctantly for a great photo shoot. 

Moth art. Eve suggested I enter the national Blake Prize for religious/spiritual art. I said it would be hypocritical of me to enter as I am neither religious nor spiritual. She retorted: ‘You’re a very moral person with great interest and love of beauty and nature. Surely that’s a form of spirituality?‘ So, I’ve been working on Cosmothology, a new interpretation of the Ardabil carpet using only identified moths.  The final image will be over 2.4m wide and 1.5m deep and giclee printed on canvas.

                         

And one last image. I still get the occasional beetle gem when I manage to get up the street in the mornings.

       Cheers Buck