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.
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
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, 2023(3);
- Feb 2004, 2024:
- Mar 2024,
- 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: Also see paragraph below entitled LARVAL FOOD PLANTS; with the only known foodplant at time of writing (24/11/23) being Carissa spinarum (currant bush), which we do not believe has been found on the Dorrigo Plateau, we are of the opinion that6 Nephele subvaria does not breed on the Dorrigo Plateau, meaning that adults seen here are migrating from an area nearby where Carissa spinarum (currant bush) grows (wherever that might be).
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.
At Dorrigo on 14/11/23 on a warm night a N. subvaria came to light at 21.31 hours.
At Dorrigo on 20/11/23 on a misty night two N. subvaria came to light at between 00.00 hours and 02.13 hours.
At Dorrigo on 06/02/24 on a rainy night a N. subvaria came to light at 20.50 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 (listed in Hawkmoths of Australia, Moulds, Tuttle, Lane. January 2020, are not recorded as growing this far south in NSW.
As at March 2024 we have now recorded Nephele subvaria coming to Claire Cottage's moth light on 8 occasions in 19 years. This raises the question, "is Nephele subvaria migratory, which is a possibility, or has it other, as yet unknown, APOCYNACEAE food plants?" As of March 2024 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. purpurascens, P. straminea & P. velutina. We also have the APOCYNACEAE shrub Tabernarmontana pandacaqui. We will attempt to monitor these plants for hawkmoth larva.