Stuart Rae

Pasture Day Moth

Spot the moth - yes it is well-spotted

It's autumn, and there have been some cold nights in Canberra, but there are still some butterflies flying and a few daylight-flying moths. Like the one in the picture above, the well named Pasture Day Moth Apina callisto. Except the ones I saw the other day were not in pasture, they were all spread along the verge of a track through a low scrubby hillside.

The moths were lifting from nowhere as I walked along the track. I just never saw them until they moved. They were so well concealed by their cryptic colouring, so like the gravel they were resting on. The spots on their wings, when folded, matched the whites, yellows and reds of the tiny stones in colours and size. With the black lines hinting at shadow lines like those between the stones.

I stopped to take a proper look at them, but had to wait till they landed before I could grab any photographs. When flying, they flashed large cream patches on their wings. Then when they landed I had to creep up on them and use a 400 m lens to take decent shots, even from only two metres away. They are only about 3 cm long.

They all landed on gravel after a short flight. Although they are named pasture moths, they never landed on the grasses or herbs on the path edge. They all landed on a clear gravel patch. The pasture is where they lay their eggs, and their larvae hatch and feed.

Their strategy was working, for I watched some Pied Currawongs hawking butterflies, Meadow Argus, catching them as they flew low along the track or snatching them as they landed.

How many moths can you see in this habitat shot, I can't see any although I know there at least five on the edge of the track. They lift when disturbed, but only at the last moment.

Autumn is when many of the larger moths in the Canberra area emerge. Their large bodies, filled with fats, make excellent food for Tawny Frogmouths, which are hunting hard at this time, to put on weight to see them through the cold winter months.

Thanks to Suzi Bond who identified the moths for me.