Elusive moth found in grasslands
In February, the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board shared the plight of pale sun-moths, an endangered species of flying moth in our region. There is a short window of opportunity to track these elusive moths; just 5 weeks from February to March when the moths are active.
One sighting came from landscape officer Nick Modra, who was on the lookout for the rare moth during visits to grassland areas where he was working with pygmy blue-tongue lizards.
“It was a big surprise when at the first site I visited north of Burra, I spotted some butterfly-like insects chasing each other around amongst the tussocks,” said Nick.
“I snapped some pictures and compared them to the photos on our Facebook post, which confirmed my suspicions. Later that day I saw up to 80 of them next to a large patch of native grassland. They were chasing each other around in circles before landing, and mating.
“It was great to see such a hive of activity given how much stress native pastures are under with these drought conditions.”
Entomologist Alex Stolarski from EntoSearch, who conducted the research, said that the highest numbers of pale sun-moth were found around Burra, but their range extends from near Peterborough to Kapunda and Truro in the Murraylands and Riverland landscape region.
While the range is extensive, Alex said the populations are concentrated around areas with high quality grassland systems, especially Rytiodosperma species.
