Moths and Frogmmouths


In the last 2 weeks we have had a lot of very large brown moths turn up in the evenings. They make a fair racket fluttering against the window, which annoys the dog. Fortunately when the light is turned off so are the moths!

There are more photographs of similar moths on http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2009/05/swift-moths-love-cold-wet-weather.html The title of this blog reflects our surprise that the moths tolerate the current weather we are experiencing.

It seems that the bestbet for the species is Oxycanus silvanus apparently a regular around Canberra. There are many species in this family. and more information is at http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/hepi/hepialidae.html (although there is no specific page for O. silvanus).

A side effect of the mothiness is that at least one Tawny Frogmouth has turned up. This can give an intersting experience if working in my study in the evenings as a large white shape appears out of the dark, catches a moth a silently wafts back to a perch in one of our gum trees. There are several posts on this blog about these birds of which http://franmart.blogspot.com/2009/01/tadpolemouth-update.html is the most recent.

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Hi Flabmeister
Your moth is paler and more spotted than mine, but clearly it is in the same family or order of Swift Moths.
.
Feel free to swap notes from time to time.
Cheers
Denis
22 May 2009 at 09:45:00 GMT+10
Flabmeister said…
Denis
Glenn Cocking (a colleague from Canberra) has identified it as O. silvanus. Apparently they are regular in this area. I have updated the post.

Best regards

Martin
24 May 2009 at 13:53:00 GMT+10
Denis Wilson said…
Hi Martin.
I have received advice that mine is likely to be Oxycanus janeus. Remember, your moth had different spots from mine.
Experts seem to agree on Oxycanus as being very active at this time of year.
Limited number images available on the web of the various species known to exist.
Thanks for letting me know of your moth ID.
Cheers
Denis
24 May 2009 at 22:42:00 GMT+10
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