Bogong Moth?

ihbh on 26/02/2019 - 14:38
Last edited 26/02/2019 - 15:01 by 1 other user

We went for a bushwalk in Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden yesterday and found this big guy. Is it a big Bogong moth? Wikipedia describes them as being 2.5-3.5cm in length. This one must be at least 5 cm in length - I've put my FR235 next to him which has a diameter of 4.5cm to provide some scale.

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  HighAndDry on 26/02/2019 - 14:52

  From Wiki:

  with a dark stripe interrupted by two light-colored spots on the wings distinguishing it from other moths.

  Not seeing that colouration in your photo, so maybe a related species?

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  Quantumcat on 26/02/2019 - 15:14

  Hawk moth
  https://ibb.co/8XZPBGS
  https://ibb.co/jrtXPPC

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    [Deactivated] on 26/02/2019 - 15:42

    This is just a sting for serial killer types.

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  ego22 on 26/02/2019 - 15:57

  +2

  if your bush walking and u hear a moth saying "hay mate, u got the time?"
  then thats definetly a BIG moth…

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  ego22 on 26/02/2019 - 16:09

  and im 100% shure its a witchetty grub moth.

  http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Witchetty-Grub/Endoxyla/leuc…

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    Quantumcat on 26/02/2019 - 17:41

    That link says they have a wingspan of 16 cm which would mean they'd have to be about 9cm long (8cm for half the wingspan plus a cm for the head). OP said 5cm long.

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    ihbh on 27/02/2019 - 14:08

    Here's the front on view. Antennae looks different.

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      ego22 on 27/02/2019 - 21:50

      https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougbeckers/5272632155

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        ihbh on 02/03/2019 - 07:15

        There are many varieties of witchetty grub moths from Google images which look close, so you could well be right. I've tried asking the CSIRO to see if they can identify it too.

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          Euphemistic on 02/03/2019 - 13:04

          @ihbh: Maybe you’ve discovered the ihbh moth.

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            ihbh on 02/03/2019 - 14:24

            @Euphemistic: I wish! The effort (and luck) to discover a new one is fascinating.

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  Euphemistic on 26/02/2019 - 22:46

  How many steps did you do?

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    ihbh on 02/03/2019 - 14:26

    Not enough - gentle walk while toddler did bush school with Mum and I carried bub sleep in Ergo bag.