Have you seen this secretive moth of central Victoria?
Posted on 21 March, 2014 by Connecting Country
The unusual green and white patterned Cymatoplex sp. moth is known from only a dozen sightings – EVER. It has not yet been scientifically described or even formally named. Half of the known observations are from the Eppalock bushland property of Steve Williams. Another one is from Fryerstown. Last year (2013) at a Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club meeting, Steve presented a fascinating talk on his hobby to document the life history cycles of hundreds of moth species of central Victoria. Yet this little known charismatic species has held a special fascination for him.
Photo: Steve Williams
Steve has discovered that the larvae feed exclusively on the native Drooping Cassinia (Cassinia arcuata). Yes, the common local plant also known as Coffee Bush or Chinese Scrub. The eggs are laid on the plant, and over the next 11 ½ months, that individuals goes from egg to larvae to pupa all on the same plant specimen.
The adults emerge and fly for only a few days, during which time they mate and lay their eggs. Adult moths have only ever been recorded during the last week of March and the first week of April, and the other life stages have never been seen in the wild. If you have Drooping Cassinia on or near your property, now is the time to be on the look-out for this colourful moth! If you see one flying about at night, or resting on a window, please let us know as it would provide valuable scientific and conservation knowledge (with a photo if possible, and also the date and location).
With the permission of the Entomological Society of Victoria, we are fortunate to be able to provide access to an easy-to-read paper that Steve recently wrote for the Victorian Entomologist journal (click here), which gives more information about the life history of this species and some good identifying photos.
(Blog reproduced with permission from the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club).
Just took a photo of one yesterday at Tarnagulla Vic.
In 2008 I set up a nursery-then planted a Forrest of almost 100 hectares of Cassinia on Our farm north west of Melbourne on the Calder highway. This Cassinia Forrest survived extraordinary periods of dry weather at times browned almost totally out yet is now fully green and thriving.
Over the past decade I have spotted this Spotted green moth on several occasions and each time marvelled at its rich lush colouring.
For some time We have been harvesting timber along a fire break along the Calder and I will ask the dozen or so workers and family if they have recently spotted any Cymotoplex Moths/photograph and safely release any of these rare and special residents.
I have just seen one in the Enfield forest. It is a positive ID and it came to my light at night
Hi everyone. Some great feedback and suggestions.
– Carol, with its wings spread, it would be about 2-3cm across. I reckon there’d be a real chance that it could occur at or near your place.
– Karl, I planning to go out looking for them as well. The spotlight/white-cloth approach is a really good one. There are probably hundreds of invertebrates that coud be listed as threatened in Victoria or Australia, but that I suspect are stuck in the ‘data deficient’ category.
– Beth, I totally agree with your comment about the Moths of Victoria booklets. They are such incredibly detailed and easy-to-read resources, particularly the CDs. I’ve heard that book 5 of the series is close to being ready for publishing. This particular moth was covered within volume 4 of the series.
Chris
If anyone is keen on moth identification, the Entomological Society of Victoria have produced a series of booklets that can be purchased – http://www.entsocvic.org.au
Thanks Chris. Yet another little gem in our region that I had never heard of until your post. How amazing that is totally dependant on Drooping Cassinia, a plant so under-valued by many. A classic example of the complexities within our ecosystems. It is interesting that the taxa is not listed as threatened under the advisory list despite obviously being eligible. It is one of hundreds that invertebrate taxonomists just haven’t found the time for. Also notable that Stephen regards it at extreme risk from excessive burning.
A great way to survey for moths is to set up a white sheet, point a spotlight at it and check it after an hour or two. I might do this in my local Cassinia patch next week and see what turns up!
Any idea of scale? There are no measurements for any of the stages, just a guess in comparison with the Cassinia stem and leaf.