Jon Sullivan

Moths? Moths! Here are four NZ moths to brighten up your day.

All are NZ endemic species that I photohgraphed at a moth light at the Boyle Village in the Canterbury Southern Alps.

The yellow moth is the Aristotelia Looper *Epiphryne xanthaspis*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094321

The dark purple moth with lime green streaks is the Pate Owlet *Meterana merope*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094323

The tan-yellow moth with the chocolate brown underwings is the Dark Underwing Wainscot *Ichneutica sulcana*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094312

The steel-blue moth is *Physetica caerulea* (I don't think that has a common name yet): https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339094297

(These are part of my large backlog of moth photos that I'm gradually uploading to iNaturalist.)

#Lepidoptera #mothodon #moths #entomology #NZ #iNaturalistNZ

Feb 18 at 1:02amWeb
Show threadJon SullivanFeb 18

> Dark Underwing Wainscot

I can see a dark underwing waistcoat making sense but what’s a wainscot? You Mastodon folk might have already known this but I had to look that up. Turns out it’s wood panelling that’s used to embellish the lower parts of indoor walls, typically in older houses.

It looks like it’s the raised veins on the forewings of the moths that got them the Wainscot common name.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-wainscoting

#Wainscot #Architecture