Monday, March 28, 2011

March Madness I

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The little things that I must have walked past thousands of times. It seems like many moths use the same plants for larvae food. I regularly check certain plants on my local walks and am surprised as soon as one species cocoons-up another species is hatching out. Some locate one or two eggs on the bush while others are more social and hatch out 15 to 20 individuals. Sometimes they eat the entire bush up. I was surprised to find out that some moth females do not fly and rely on the males to locate them using their sense of smell. When I have reared several species of moths or butterflies, I take them out to graze on their larval foods. There is a story about a hungry caterpillar and from what I have witnessed its no wonder they can be pests in the garden. In the end they have given me new ways to look at the teeth marks they leave on plant leaves even though they try to conceal that they are present. Sometimes it is very evident one was caught in the act by a hungry bird.
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Amata nigriceps
Darwin
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Arctiid Moth Creatonotos gangis
Darwin
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Australian Woolly Bear Unidentified ANTHELIDAE sp.
Darwin
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Australian Woolly Bear Unidentified ANTHELIDAE sp.
Darwin
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Australian Woolly Bear Unidentified ANTHELIDAE sp. Eggs
Darwin
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Badge Huntsman Neosparassus sp.
Darwin
FF
FF
Badge Huntsman Neosparassus sp.
Darwin
FF
FF
Bee Hawk Moth Cephonodes kingii Adult Moth
Darwin
FF
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Bee Hawk Moth Cephonodes kingii Egg
Darwin
FF
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Bee Hawk Moth Cephonodes kingii larvae 1st Instar
Feeding On
Gardenia megasperma
Darwin
FF
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Bee Hawk Moth Cephonodes kingii larvae 2nd Instar
Feeding On
Gardenia megasperma
Darwin
FF
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Bee Hawk Moth Cephonodes kingii larvae Last Instar
Feeding On
Gardenia megasperma
The Day Before Cocooning
Darwin
FF
FF
Brown Honeyeater Lichmera indistincta
Visiting
Orb Spider Nephila pilipes
Darwin
FF
FF
Celosia agentia
Darwin
FF
FF
Coachroach Ellipsidion humerale
Darwin
FF
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Common Crow Euploea core corinna 2nd Instar larvae
Feeding On
Sandpaper Fig Ficus opposita
Darwin
FF
FF
Common Crow Euploea core corinna
Darwin
FF
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Common Crow Euploea core corinna
Mating
Darwin
FF
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Cylindrical Leaf Beetle Cryptocephalinae sp.
Darwin
FF
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