The single red geranium flower i posted earlier this month has been joined by a large number of his siblings, making a beautiful, bright red ball of colour.
Something unusual caught my eye as i was passing by it and since i had my camera handy i took a quick snap for posterity. 🙂
Never having seen anything quite like it before i determined to see if i could identify it with ‘help’ from Google. After viewing several hundred images i had settled on it being a Plume Moth but could not identify with any certainty the right species.
After trying several different search titles i saw something that looked close and zeroed in on a species name and finally found an almost exact match for my little fearsome flying friend! I visited the page the image was on and found it’s ‘common’ name – mystery solved!
The name had been staring me in the face the whole time…
… I give you Sphenarches anisodactylus – the Geranium Plume Moth!! 🙂
His long curved rear legs have some serious spines sticking out from them. They are known as tibial spurs. The two front legs also have smaller ones.
Love.
Great photos! Love that little critter 🙂
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Thank you very much! 🙂
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Stupendo 🙂
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I am very happy that you liked them. 😀
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What an interesting creature — must be native to Australia, as I’ve never heard of it here.
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Strangely, this creature was introduced to Australia to help combat non-native plants that were invasive to our native flora!
The Plume moths are common all over the world, mostly in the warmer regions and while looking it up i found that the Artichoke Plume Moth is a common pest feeding on artichokes in …. California!!
Their rather small size and good camouflage might explain why they are not more widely seen or known about?
Seems there is also another version of the Geranium Plume Moth in America with a completely different species name and less fearsome look!
There is also a Snapdragon Plume Moth in the US that damages, well, Snapdragons clearly! 🙂
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How interesting — thank you! I’ll have to look for them!
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Keep the camera handy! 😉
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That’s some name and it’s some stunning photography
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It’s a tongue-twister all right! 😉
Thank you kindly.
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Wonderful. Well spotted
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Thank you! – So was the Plume Moth! 😉
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🙂
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