It has a lovely warm red colour on on the back of its head and between its ears.
This is a wider view to give you a sense of the lush grasses on which it was feeding.
I am posting this as my brother brendan sent me an email a few nights ago about Hawk Moths. I replied that I had not seen any this year.And lo and behold, tonight's batch of moths included this fine specimen.
They always remind me of Art Deco designed toy aeroplanes or even sleek 1930s race cars. It is a very fat Hawk Moth, but I am unable to determine which species it might be. The "Pale Brown Hawk Moth" does not appear to have the facial markings this one shows in the second image.
Here is a close-up view of the head.
The Moth is clinging on to my jacket. The antennae are clearly visible protruding from the top of the head, and the front feet are pointing forward.I like the two prominent white lines starting at the front of the head and diverging up and over the eyes.
The mousy brown "fur" looks very soft.
I just cannot help admiring Hawk Moths when they turn up here.
8 comments:
Hello Denis,
Love the Swampie!
Your Hawk Moth is probably Hippotion scrofa, but firm confirmation would depend on the colour of the hindwing which, in this species, is red.
I got a pale form of H. scrofa last month and the photo is on Lepidoptera Diary.
It's interesting yours is pale this year as well. Last year, I got a lovely dark chestnut one, which is the normal colour.
JL
Hi JL
Its interesting that everyone refer to the Swampies as Swampies. Lovely creatures, reflected in the soft name we give them.
Thanks for the ID on the Hawk Moth.
.
It looks very close to mine.
I went looking last night for the usual suspects, esp Privet Hawk Moth, as the Privets have been in flower here, but those ones have stronger markings.
I shall check out H. scrofa later on.
Thanks for that.
Cheers
Denis
They are a nice looking wallaby. Love the Hawk moth too of course. I also notice an interesting Longicorn Beetle in the background.
That wallaby certainly has a great place to eat and hide as well.
Hi Mosura
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Glad you noticed the Longicorn.
.
It was pushing its way around everywhere, ignoring the moths.
It looked unusual around the head area. I have seen them occasionally, but usually notice their swollen "knee joints" on the legs. I shall have to dig out my old photos (somewhere amongst several thousand unprocessed Moth photos), to compare this one with the others.
Cheers
Denis
Hi Mick
I reckon you are right - it is spoiled rotten.
I sent a copy of that photo to a friend in Goulburn, which is much drier than here, pointing out what real Swampy Wallaby habitat looks like - just to tease him, for he loves his Swampies too.
Cheers
Denis
that swampy in your picture how big id it. is it about 35 center meters tall that is ruler size.old measure one foot.
and can i know what the colors are please.is it a sub speices.
i care for one never had one so tiny before.
Hi Anonymous
It is the regular Swamp Wallaby we get here in the highlands.
The grass is very long, so you are not seeing its real height.
Probably it would come up to a pocket on my trousers, so twice as large as you seem to have thought. Possibly 80 cm tall.
.
In the third image it is reaching down, with its short legs on the ground, so it can feed easily.
The red around its ears (2nd photo) is normal. The dark face and silver beard (1st photo) probably mean it is a mature male.
Certainly he was quite big for a Swampy.
.
They are more heavily set than most Kangaroos, and shorter in the body, with a very long tail. They look "bottom-heavy" compared to Kangaroos.
.
There are several sub-species in Queensland. Here, in NSW, we seem to have only one.
"Wallabia bicolor bicolor - is found in the Southern areas of its’ range from the South Eastern South Australian border through Victoria, New South Wales and just over the border into Southern Queensland."
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check out this link from the Australian Museum.
For a long distance image, but one of a big Swampy out in the open, (with his rusty red belly showing clearly) see this post of mine
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I have more images of Swamp Wallabies too - use the little white "Search" box (with magnifying glass) in very top left corner of my Blog. That will search only within my Blog.
Hope these comments help.
Cheers
Denis
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