Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE moth

QPRC LGA

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Identification history

Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE moth	18 Dec 2023	ibaird
Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE moth	18 Dec 2023	donhe
Unidentified	18 Dec 2023	DianneClarke

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User's notes

Found on the flyscreen 17/12 and I didn't notice a moth there the previous night. The first 2 photos were taken 18th, the other 2 17th. There are over 100 of these eggs, laid down in a roughly "C" shaped pattern.

2 comments

donhe wrote:

18 Dec 2023

Most Noctuoidea lay eggs in clusters, and many cover them in tail hair.
What very careless mother would lay eggs on wire??
So many lepidoptera go to great pains to lay eggs on a suitable larval food plant, like C. cactorum. So not Pyraloidea I guess.
Hepialidae lay them while flying so not that family.
Very puzzling.
@DianneClarke : beautiful photos, but I'm afraid you will have to rear them to find out what they are.

DianneClarke wrote:

18 Dec 2023

@donhe. Thanks Don, I wnt with nocuids because there are a number that seem to have similar ridged eggs. If it was the most common moth around at present it would be Melanodes anthracitaria but obviously not them. I am planning to photograph them again tomorrow as they seem to have changed quite a bit in the first 24 hours and then I will take the screen off and see if I can brush some of the eggs off without damage and see what happens. If any hatch I will try a leaf salad ( a bit of everything around inc eucalypt and acacia) and see how it goes.

White Xmas for you? Cheers

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