Canberra moth
Location: Bruce, Canberra
January 28, 2012 7:13 pm
Last night we found a massive moth on our porch, it was about 10cm in length and weighed about 45 grams. We were worried that our cats might think it would make a nice snack so decided to move it. It jumped onto my hand and was heavy and warm. We put it in a tree. We were worried it might not survive the move…..this morning we got up to check on the moth….and it had met up with another moth
Signature: Mel

Ghost Moth from Australia

Dear Mel,
We are pretty certain that you had an encounter with a Ghost Moth in the family Cossidae, possibly Endoxyla leucomochla which is pictured on the Butterfly House website.  The caterpillar is a wood borer that is called a Witchetty Grub, though alternate spellings include:  “Witjuti, Witchedy, Wichetty, Witchety, witchjetti”.  According to Butterfly House:  “The adult is a large finely mottled grey moth, with wings suffused with rusty red towards the bases, and with a wingspan of about 16 cms. It has degenerate mouthparts, and so cannot feed. It relies for energy totally on the nourishment taken in by the Caterpillar earlier in its life.”  We would not discount that it might be some other member of the genus as they all look quite similar.  There are many possibilities pictured on Butterfly House. 

Mating Ghost Moths

According to the Brisbane Insect website, Ghost Moths are also called Wood Moths and:  “Moths in the family Cossidae are from large to very large size. They have long and narrow wings like those of Hawk moths. They are mostly brown or grey in colours. Most have the inverted “U” shape on thorax. When rest, they held their wings roof-wise. The adult moths in this family do not feed so their mouth parts are largely reduced.”  While he was researching his book, The Curious World of Bugs, Daniel learned that an Australian Ghost Moth has the record number of eggs laid for a non-social insect, 29,100.

Mating Ghost Moths

Thank you so much for your speedy reply – I got a little bit addicted to your website today.  I actually think it is a Wattle Goat Moth (Endoxyla affinis) – I have some even better photos now (they spent alot of time mating in our garden and it was easier to get good pics in the arvo) – anyway, let me know if you want me to send them through. What an amazing pair they were.

Hi again Mel,
The Wattle Goat Moth, Endoxyla affinis, did occur to us as another possibility.  We would love to post one or two better images.

Ghost Moth

Here a some photos of both the male and female moth…..I think the female was the bigger one and had a very active scent gland which I took a photo of, the male had some blue on his head. Big storm last night and both moths have gone now

Ghost Moth

Thanks for sending additional photos Mel.  We hope they will contribute to a positive species identification.  The close-up photo appears to be a sexual organ.

detail of a Ghost Moth

The newest image you sent of the mating pair is also a nice addition.

Mating Ghost Moths

Large Green New Zealand Moth
Location: Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
January 21, 2011 4:56 am
Hi,
Just tonight two of these large green moths flew into my room, one after the other. I have never seen this type of moth before.
Each one was around 75-80mm in length and approximately 100-110mm in wingspan.
After finding this website, I am assuming they are Puriri Moths.
Could you please tell me if they definitely are Puriri Moths.
Thanks,
Signature: John

Puriri Moth

Hi John,
You are absolutely correct.  This is a Puriri Moth or Ghost Moth in the family Hepialidae.  You may read about it on the Insects and Spiders of New Zealand website which indicates the Maori names are:  “pepe tuna; mokoroa, ngutara; pungoungou“.  Though five or six years are spent as a caterpillar, the adult Puriri Moth only lives about two days and does not feed.

Puriri Moth

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moth
July 16, 2010
Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada
I saw this moth on my deck today and am very curious what it is. I am located in Alberta Canada and have never seen one of these before.
brent

Four Spotted Ghost Moth

Dear Brent,
Alas, we do not recognize your moth.  We discovered a Moths of Canada Website, but we did not have any luck with a proper identification.  We will post your letter and hope one of our readers can assist with this identification.

Four Spotted Ghost Moth

I was on that site too and couldnt find anything, thanks a lot for your help!!! I’ll check your site from time to time and to see if someone knows…thanks again!!!

Thanks so much to Markidavana who provided a comment identifying this Four Spotted Ghost Moth, Sthenopis purpurascens.  Interestingly, when we went to BugGuide to create a link, we found Brent’s photos already posted and identified.  There was not much information on this species on BugGuide, but we did learn that this moth is in a family, Hepialidae,  that has not been represented previously on What’s That Bug? so we created a new category for it.  BugGuide does provide family information, including:  “”"to attract females, the male hovers over open ground, sometimes slowly rising and falling [like a ghost]” which is credited to Wikipedia.  BugGuide also indicates:  “Early instar larvae feed on plant detritus, decaying wood, or fungi; later instars bore into roots or stems of woody plants, or feed on moss, and the leaves of grasses and other herbaceous plants.  Some adults cannot feed because they lack mouthparts” and “Considered a ‘primitive’ moth because of a combination of adult and larval characters. Adult moths lack a strong wing coupling mechanism and instead use a ‘jugum’, which is a thumb like projection between fore- and hindwings. Wings do not remain coupled while in flight. While present in other primitive lepidoptera, the exact function remains speculative. This feature is often strongly, and best, developed in the Hepialidae. Adults also have reduced or sometimes absent mouthparts.“  The Entomology Collection of the University of Alberta website also has some interesting information, including:  “habitat Mature mixedwood and poplar forest, in particular near wetlands.  seasonality Adults fly in Alberta from early July through mid-August, peaking the last half of July. identification Adults are large (6.6-10.0 cm wingspan) long-winged moths that occur in two color forms, purple-grey and yellow-brown. Until recently the yellow-brown form was thought to be a separate species, S. quadriguttatus. The forewings have a darker oblique median band, a darker terminal area and darker spots along the costa. There are two small, silver spots near the wing base. Hindwings are even purple brown or salmon pink, unmarked except for one or two small spots on the outer part of the leading edge. The antennae in both sexes are greatly reduced and hair-like, and separate them from all other large Alberta moths. The similar S. argenteomaculatus (Harris) does not occur in Alberta, and the literature reports for argentomaculatus are errors (Schmidt and Lawrie, 1999). life history Females deposit eggs in the vicinity of the host while in flight. The larvae bore into the roots of poplars, willows or alder where they complete the life cycle. The larvae apparently take two years to complete the lifecycle, and adults in Alberta are more common in odd-numbered years. Mature larvae are about 50-60 cm long, with cream-white bodies, brown heads and brown bases of the setae. The adults are crepuscular and are poorly attracted to light. conservation A fairly common, widespread insect; no concerns. diet info Larvae bore into the roots of poplars (Populus sp.), and to a lesser extent willow (Salix) and alder (Alnus). range Labrador and New York north and west to British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, south in the mountains to Arizona. In Alberta, it is most common throughout the Boreal forest and Aspen Parkland regions, less common in the Foothills and Mountains, and along wooded parts of the valleys in the Grasslands region.”   While writing our book, we did learn this information on a moth in the same family, the Australian Ghost Moth on the University of Florida Book of Insect Records :  “The highest lifetime fecundity among non-social insects appears to be a lepidopteran. An Australian ghost moth female, Trictena atripalpis (Hepialidae), captured at Adelaide, laid 29,100 eggs (Tindale 1932), and when it was dissected 15,000 eggs were found in the ovaries. These moths oviposit while in flight and tend to lay their eggs in the vicinity of the red gumtree (Eucalyptus rostrata), on the roots of which their larvae feed. There are other ghost moths that are larger, which may have an even higher fecundity, but I’ve found no literature on egg number in these species.”

Thanks so much for all your help! I couldn’t believe how fast I got an answer about that moth!!! I’ll be sure you use this site again next time I have a question. Thanks!!

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