Wattle Goat Moth at Aranda, ACT
Identification history
| Endoxyla encalypti | 21 Jan 2025 | ibaird | ||
| Endoxyla encalypti | 21 Jan 2025 | donhe | ||
| Endoxyla cinereas | 21 Jan 2025 | Fishaw | ||
| Endoxyla cinereus | 21 Jan 2025 | Fishaw |
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User's notes
Flapping profusely but not flying then still like statue when placed on tree, camoflaged as bark. Intermittently flapping wings like crazy, presumably spreading pheromones. Joined by slightly smaller male.
11 comments
Fishaw
wrote:
21 Jan 2025
Yes a beautiful blue ring. She is likely female because overnight a slightly smaller male has found her and they're mating now.
Fishaw
wrote:
21 Jan 2025
Oh a wattle goat moth. Thanks for id. Should I place her off the Eucalypt and onto a Wattle tree to lay her eggs? She seems too heavy to fly.
Fishaw
wrote:
22 Jan 2025
Thanks for confirming, I have placed her on wattle tree. I cannot see the male anymore.
I never saw her fly.
She was crawling on the ground at the flyscreen door, perhaps moving towards the light inside, although there were lots of streetlighting outside and waning gibbous moon. Maybe looking for something to climb up to gain height.
If I understand correctly the females lay under bark on wattle tree and then the caterpillers burrow into tree and down to roots, so food is mix of bark, plus what tree produces to heal wound, plus roots?
I was checking out the butterflyhouse info. Does the Endoxyla lituratus not have any blue on thorax?
I never saw her fly.
She was crawling on the ground at the flyscreen door, perhaps moving towards the light inside, although there were lots of streetlighting outside and waning gibbous moon. Maybe looking for something to climb up to gain height.
If I understand correctly the females lay under bark on wattle tree and then the caterpillers burrow into tree and down to roots, so food is mix of bark, plus what tree produces to heal wound, plus roots?
I was checking out the butterflyhouse info. Does the Endoxyla lituratus not have any blue on thorax?
donhe
wrote:
22 Jan 2025
There are drawings by Herrich-Schäffer (1855) of the of the two species at
https://archive.org/details/sammlungneuerode01herr/page/n204/mode/1up
There : only the male of E. encalypti is shown as having the blue border to the thorax. Evidently females can also have a blue border, although the appendage shown at the tip of the female abdomen does look like a phallus. I wonder if Herrich-Schäffer got the drawing numbers confused.
https://archive.org/details/sammlungneuerode01herr/page/n204/mode/1up
There : only the male of E. encalypti is shown as having the blue border to the thorax. Evidently females can also have a blue border, although the appendage shown at the tip of the female abdomen does look like a phallus. I wonder if Herrich-Schäffer got the drawing numbers confused.
Fishaw
wrote:
22 Jan 2025
Thanks. I suppose individuals can vary? Both male & female in this pair certainly have blue border to the thorax. I have some close up images of male just after mating that clearly show the blue and the 'mouse eyes', but looks like I've reached max capacity on adding any more images to this post.
donhe
wrote:
22 Jan 2025
Can you make the photos of the male a new sighting, with a link in the comments to this sighting of his amour ?
Fishaw
wrote:
24 Jan 2025
Here are images of male, https://canberra.naturemapr.org/sightings/4640910.
Sorry I didn't get images of those parts, their wings were in the way. I assumed female was the larger one I placed on tree and the male was the one who flew over to her for mating, but that's just an assumption. I didn't want to disturb them, but I wished I had better images. I couldn't tell if female was laying eggs on Eucalyptus or Wattle, as I never saw oviposiror. Do you happen to know the timeframe between mating and egg laying? Thanks.
Sorry I didn't get images of those parts, their wings were in the way. I assumed female was the larger one I placed on tree and the male was the one who flew over to her for mating, but that's just an assumption. I didn't want to disturb them, but I wished I had better images. I couldn't tell if female was laying eggs on Eucalyptus or Wattle, as I never saw oviposiror. Do you happen to know the timeframe between mating and egg laying? Thanks.
donhe
wrote:
24 Jan 2025
Interesting question. You have to take them into captivity for observation to answer questions like that.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.084256-35.259297
- Places Aranda, ACT
Sighting information
- 2 Abundance
- 21 Jan 2025 01:41 PM Recorded on
- Fishaw Recorded by
-
Collections
Fishaw NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Wood moths (Cossidae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects
Additional information
- Female on ground trying to enter house. Put her on Eucalyptus tree then found by male. Associated plant
- Mating. Associated Insect
- 50mm or larger Animal size
- Mixed Gender
- Mating Breeding behaviour
- Alive / healthy Animal health
Species information
- Endoxyla encalypti Scientific name
- Wattle Goat Moth Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 912.9m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
- External link More information
-
Synonyms
Xyleutes encalypti
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
