#Wiseana

[drhoz]

#2303 - Wiseana cervinata - Pasture Porina

AKA Elhamma cervinata, Hepialus despectus, Porina vexata, and Pielus variolaris.

A Hepialid endemic to New Zealand, where it was first described by Francis Walker in 1865. I'm not sure how many of those scientific names above are the result of him describing the same species more than once. He became notorious for that.

These are both males - females have indistinct markings at best. A common moth in grassy areas around New Zealand, where the caterpillars devour clover and grass, and may have been a pest of kūmara when sweet potato was more intensively grown as a staple crop.

Horopito, North Island Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

[plantsofwa]

Triodia wiseana!

[eurekamag--com]

Iridescent virus infection in field populations of Wiseana cervinata (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae) and Witlesia sp

http://dlvr.it/Nxv9Xm

[drhoz]

#2443 - Wiseana umbraculata - Bog Porina

Another endemic Hepialid, found on both islands but uncommon in the northern quarter of the country.

The adult moths fly in spring, summer, and early autumn depending on which part of the country they live in, but only live for a few days and do not feed. Mated females will scatter several thousand eggs over pasture, where the caterpillars burrow, and eat foliage and microflora, and drag leaves underground to eat.

W. umbraculata is a major pasture pest, but dry hot weather and the Wiseana nucleopolyhedrosis virus can decimate populations.

Mangorei, Taranaki, New Zealand.

[drhoz]

#2502 - Wiseana signata - Sand Porina

Wiseana signata, a Hepialid described by Francis Walker in 1856 and is endemic to New Zealand, where, like the other Wiseana species, it has become a major pasture pest. The caterpillars have also been found feeding on Phormium in poorly consolidated sand dunes, which may have been its original habitat before humans cut down so much of Aotearoa's forests.

The wingspan is 44–64 mm for males and 58–75 mm for females. Adults are on wing from October to May - quite an extended season.

Paraparaumu, Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand

[drhoz]

The Great ACT-NSW-NZ Trip, 2023-2024 - Pohokura

After we left the Volcanic Plateau we headed west, to spend a few days at Pohokura. The road we took was the Forgotten World Highway, which the GPS said was a 100kph road.

It was not.

In fact, most of it was unsealed, and was so convoluted, through terrain so precipitous, that we didn't dare drive faster than 30kph. Where boulders had fallen off the cliffs they'd been marked with witches hats - presumably someone would get around to actually moving them off the road, at some point.

We did see a few animals, though - feral deer (New Zealand has had a variety introduced), feral goats (serious problem in many areas), escaped sheep, squashed hedgehogs, and a feral kitten in the middle of a bridge.

At Pohokura we stayed at a house built by one of the original European settlers in the area. It had a resident cat who disliked the family move to a new house so much that it walked back to the old one.

A fair number of the species I saw were ones I'd already seen on the trip, or from @purrdence's previous trip, or from Australia, but there's plenty that were new. I'll cover the Whangamōmona Saddle, Whangamōmona Township, and the McCluggage Tunnel, seperately.

And a few I haven't got satisfactory IDs on yet.