Bogong moth
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The Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) is a temperate species of night-flying moth notable for appearing in large numbers around major public buildings in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during spring (late September to November).
Ecology and life cycle
The Bogong moth Agrotis infusa is common throughout southern Australia. These brown to blackish moths have a wingspan of approximately 45 millimetres. Adults make lengthy migrations to spend summer months in large congregations in caves and crevices of rocks in the Australian Alps notably in the region of the Bogong High Plains in Victoria. They are attracted to lights, such as those in the Sydney and Canberra areas, at night. Large numbers may enter houses or other buildings to rest during the day. In winter, adults disperse to pastures across inland New South Wales and Queensland to lay their eggs.
This subfamily are characterised by their stoutly built bodies covered with long dense scales.
The larvae, collectively known as cutworms, are also stoutly built. They feed on a wide variety of plants (see list below). The name cutworm come from the larvae's habit of cutting off plant parts during the night which they drag back to their burrows in the soil as food.
The Bogong moth is univoltine (i.e. it has one generation per year). The Lepidopteran life cycle consists of four stages; ova (eggs), several larval instars (caterpillars), pupa (cocoon), and imagines (adults).
Cultural uses
Indigenous Australians living in south eastern Australia were known to have feasted on the moth larvae, benefiting from their rich fat reserves, when the moths were plentiful. The moths were generally roasted and then eaten whole. This cultural use is no longer practiced; it died out with the Aboriginal tribes in these areas. The term "Urri Arra" refers to the Bogong moth feasts that these Aboriginal people held.
Recorded food plants
- Beta - Beet
- Brassica
- Hordeum - Barley
- Linum - Flax
- Medicago - Alfalfa
- Pisum - Pea
- Solanum
- Triticum - Wheat
- Pinus - Radiata Pine
External links
- [Bogong moth] - CSIRO Division of Entomology
- [Bogongs Migrating South] - abc.net.au/science/scribblygum
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