Giant moths in australia. It took australias 40 best forecasters to predict the clear skies and sunny weather for the sydney olympics closing ceremony and one swarm of moths to put everyone in a flap. Not by a long way. The giant wood moth is the heaviest moth in the world with some females weighing up to 30 grams. Today we take a closer look at the monster moths that are the biggest in the entire globe.
Moths regarded as pests in australia can be found by running a search on pest. The caterpillars of wood moths feed on plant roots but the adults do not feed during their short life span. Giant wood moths qantas amazing australia recently on burkes backyard don and dr geoff monteith senior curator of insects at the queensland museum went on the hunt for the giant wood moth which is a fascinating part of garden ecology. Later west australian airways was also able to buy another giant moth vh uqj.
Dear happy camper we believe your moth is in the family cossidae the wood moths or miller moths and we believe your individual is the giant wood moth endoxyla cinereus which has the distinction according to the australian museum website of being the heaviest moth in the world with some females weighing up to 30 grams the australian museum elaborates on the life cycle. Australia is certainly the place to be for moths though apparently we have something between 20000 and 30000 different types of moths here compared with just 2500 or so recorded species in the uk. Vh uqj was originally g aaan geraldine the fifth production aircraft of associated newspapers with a 500 hp geared jupiter enginethis aircraft was employed in britain in october 1928 as a mobile newsroom. A list of images names and data for each pest species on the site will appear.
So you wont be surprised to hear that the rain moth is not australias biggest moth. Other behaviours and adaptations life history cycle. Dh61 giant moth vh utl with west australian airways dh50. The larvae are better known as witchetty grubs.
Some larger moths are tailed such as the giant male australian atlas moth or hercules moth and the brown swallowtail moth occurring in the tropics.