Aenetus eximia - Green Ghost Moth

I have written about a similar species twice, previously, because at first I did not realise the male and female were in the same species.
I originally mis-identified this as Aenetus scotti, but Dr. Dave Britton from Australian Museum has corrected me. Thanks Dave. I can now provide the correct name,and links.
Aenetus eximia Australian Moths on Line has a set of specimens illustrated.
Don Herbison-Evans also has good information and photos on his site.

The related Swift Moths appear in early winter, but these ones seem to arrive in November or December. However, with the warm weather we have had this year, all my plants are coming into flower early. So that might be a trend.

Aenetus eximia
First time I have seen this species.
As one of my Facebook friends commented tonight,
"It looks like a Green Leaf, but with wings".

Aenetus eximia
The wing spots and dark blobs along the leading edge
of the forewings are matched on the ANIC dried specimen.
Dried specimens often lose some colour (the silver dots).

 

Head and small antennae of Aenetus eximia
The small antennae make me believe this is a female.

Showing the bright pink tonings of the hind-wings.
In this regard, it shows similarities to the Swift Moths
which are also in the same family Hepialidae

Aenetus eximia on my fly screen

Common Splendid Ghost Moth (male)

I have previously posted about the female of this species - the Common Splendid Ghost Moth - Aenetus ligniveren.  

She looked totally different from this fellow - so much so that when I found this one, I knew I ought to recognise it, but could not. 

I had only ever seen pictures of the male, not the real thing. The female was brown with green patches on her wings.
This fellow was a lovely apple green with silver stripes across its wings, a silvery head, really large brown eyes. He was intent on hanging from stems of grasses and Lomandra leaves. The wings were held closed against the body, almost as a Fruit Bat does. A very strange wing position for a Moth.

Strangely, both encounters with this species were around the same time, and both involved Kirsten. The last one we a somewhat more personal encounter with Kirsten, as the female moth laid a clutch of eggs in Kirsten's hands, in the previous encounter.

On Sunday, we went down to Kirkland Road, looking for Orchids (of course). But as with all true Naturalists, anything and almost everything unusual is of interest to us both. Kirsten is more keen on insignificant herbs than I am, and especially grasses - but that is an on-going debate.  

Anyway, I spotted this handsome Moth hanging from a stem of Lomandra, initially. 

I suspect it was just warming itself up, 

perhaps having only recently emerged from its pupa.

Aenetus ligniveren - Kirsten lining the moth up for a close-up.

Common Splendid Ghost Moth - Aenetus ligniveren

 From above, you can see the silvery white head

the huge brown eyes.

The wings are wrapped around below the body.

with the leg in front of the eye, you can how hairy the legs are.

(Click to enlarge image).

Aenetus ligniveren - head on view of male

.

Male Aenetus ligniveren hanging from grass stem by one leg.

 Note how the hairs on the body 

have been brushed onto the eyes and face

of the Moth.

It has relatively small antennae, which actually surprises me.

But it matches this CSIRO specimen.

head view of male Aenetus ligniveren

Common Splendid Ghost Moth

On Saturday morning, a bright sunny morning in Robertson, my friend Kirsten and I were sitting outside Cafe Pirouette having coffee, prior to going out to see the Sun Orchids of Tourist Road.

Suddenly Kirsten made a squeak, and reached inside her blouse
and grabbed some large insect and pulled it out.

At first she had no idea what it was.
She just knew it was large and flapping furiously.

Then she looked down and said: "Oh it's Pooped on me!"
I looked at her hand, and said, "No, she's Laying eggs"
Kirsten, a keen naturalist herself, felt slightly embarrassed
that she had nor realised herself quite what was going on.

We re-arranged her grip on the Moth (for we had worked out by now roughly what it was) and knew it was not dangerous. I had grabbed my camera. (For once I had it with me!) So I snapped off a few quick shots.

I have done some searching on the internet
and come to the conclusion that this is a female (well, we knew that) Common Splendid Ghost Moth.
(Aenetus ligniveren)

This CSIRO site shows an almost identical moth from Mt Keira (not far away, near Wollongong). That website also shows the very different-looking male moth. Don Herbison-Evans's Lepidoptera Website says: " The females are larger and have red (hind) wings, with variable green patches on the forewings". Unlike the related "Swift Moths" (Hepalidae) which swarm here in late autumn and winter, in this species, "The adult moths emerge in early summer". That fits with this occurrence.

Here are links to photos of a live specimen of the male moth. It looks so different, one could think they were of a different species.

Post Script: The moth was released, and the eggs were deposited carefully by Kirsten in the grooves of the bark of a tree.