Nephele subvaria
We have found this moth at Claire Cottage on the Dorrigo Plateau.
 
Distribution:  WA, mostly coastal, north from Shark Bay (near Carnarvon), NT, QLD & NSW mostly coastal south to Sydney. ​

Sighted at Claire Cottage; September, November & February.

Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) showing white discal spot, Claire Cottage, Dorrigo Plateau, NSW Feb 2004

Nephele subvaria (form metapyrrha) with no white discal spots, Claire Cottage, Dorrigo Plateau, NSW Nov 2012

A cold season visitor, Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) Claire Cottage Dorrigo NSW, 9 Sep 2020

Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) showing hindwings, Beatrice FNQ, 22.5.2019

Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) Beatrice FNQ, 22.5.2019

Nephele subvaria Beatrice FNQ, 22.5.2019

Nephele subvaria, (form subvaria) with different discal spots. Claire Cottage, Dorrigo Plateau, NSW Nov 2012

Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) Beatrice nr. Millaa Millaa FNQ, May 2018

Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) Beatrice nr. Millaa Millaa FNQ, May 2018

Many moths came to a moth light, including Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) , Beatrice nr. Millaa Millaa FNQ, May 2018

Nephele subvaria (form subvaria) , Whyanbeel FNQ, May 2018

Nephele subvaria
We have found this moth at Claire Cottage on the Dorrigo Plateau.
 
Distribution:  WA, mostly coastal, north from Shark Bay (near Carnarvon), NT, QLD & NSW mostly coastal south to Sydney.

Moth Sightings:  

• Claire Cottage, DORRIGO PLATEAU:  Sept 2020; Nov 2012; Feb 2004;

• ELSEWHERE:  Beatrice nr. Millaa Millaa FNQ, May 2018 and May 2019.  Whyanbeel FNQ, May 2018

Larva Sightings: 

• DORRIGO PLATEAU:  None to date
• ELSEWHERE:  None to date

Larval food plants:

• DORRIGO PLATEAU: Larval foodplant on the Plateau is unknown.

• ELSEWHERE:  Apocynaceae - Carissa spinarum (synonym Carissa lanceolata, C. laxiflora, C. ovata),
• NOTE: Carissa spinarum (currant bush) is found in two leaf size forms (large leaf & small leaf), it grows as either a spiny low shrub with small white flowers, leaves opposite in pairs, or a spiny climber to 4 metres high. 

Breeding season on the Dorrigo Plateau:  Thought to be September to April

Flight habit: Nocturnal - Active at night.

Adult Moth:  Size at rest - tip of thorax to tip of forewing: 50mm;  wing tip to wing tip 35mm
Mature larva:  length - ??mm.     Colour form

Interesting information: 22/05/19 @ Beatrice, near Millaa Millaa, FNQ  fourteen N. subvaria came to light and on 24/05/19 - twelve N subvaria came to light.
At Dorrigo on 09/09/20 on a rainy night a N. subvaria came to light at 21.00 hours.

10/09/20 MATTER FOR CLARIFICATION: Some websites are stating that whether or not there is a white or whitish DISCAL spot on the forewings indicates the sex of the Nephele subvaria specimen. We cannot find confirmation of this in the recently published (Jan 2020) Hawkmoth book so have sought the views of the authors before finalising our Nephele subvaria page wording.
RESPONSE from Max Moulds on 10/09/20 - "I'm afraid the white spots on the forewing of N. subvaria are random and don't distinguish the sexes".

Nephele subvaria FORMS - of further interest is that the Hawkmoth book tells us Nephele subvaria specimens have two forms. Those with the white DISCAL spot are known as form subvaria and those with no DISCAL spot are known as form metapyrrha.
NOTE: the DISCAL spot is frequently white and often has a larger spot beside it. However on occasions it may be faint and appear grey or a darker colour, these specimens are also known as the subvaria form. Specimens where the DISCAL spot is absent are known as the metapyrrha form.

LARVAL FOOD PLANTS - the known APOCYNACEAE food plants, previously thought to be 3 species of Carissa, are now (Sept. 2020) thought to all be Carissa spinarum (refer APNI at the following link - https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/search?product=apni&tree.id=3029293&name=Carissa+spinarum&inc._scientific=&inc._scientific=on&inc._cultivar=&inc._other=&max=100&display=apni&search=true
The known food plants are not recorded as growing this far south in NSW.
As at September 2020 we have now recorded Nephele subvaria coming to Claire Cottage's moth light on three occasions. This raises the question, "is Nephele subvaria migratory, which is a possibility, or has it other as yet unknown APOCYNACEAE food plants?"  As of Sept. 2020 we have not found larva of Nephele subvaria on the Dorrigo Plateau so have not been able to offer them alternative APOCYNACEAE food plants to see if they will accept local APOCYNACEAE species. We think these additional APOCYNACEAE species will all be growing here at Claire Cottage in our rainforest remnants - also APOCYNACEAE vine Melodinus australis (and possibly nearby Melodinus  acutifolius). Also here are the APOCYNACEAE vines Parsonsia brownii, P. straminea & P. velutina. We also have the APOCYNACEAE shrub Tabernarmontana pandacaqui. We will attempt to monitor these plants for hawkmoth larva.