The Pasture Day Moth, Apina callisto (synonym Amazelo callisto), is a species in the Noctuidae family of moths which is, as its name implies, active during the day, making it unlike most other species in the Noctuidae family. It is found in most southern areas of Australia, ranging from lower Queensland to Tasmania.
The Pasture Day Moth lays its eggs in pasture, and they hatch after heavy rains in early spring. When the larvae are fully grown, measuring about 60 mm (2.4 in), they burrow down before becoming pupae. They have striking coloration; two yellow stripes run down their mottled-black back, interspersed with blue spots. Their bodies are covered with white spines. They feed on various broad leaved plants (see list below).
The adult moth's wings are black with cream and chestnut markings, with a wingspan of approximately 50 mm (2.0 in). Its thorax is black and the abdomen is orange ringed with black.
Read more about Pasture Day Moth: Recorded Food Plants
Famous quotes containing the words pasture, day and/or moth:
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—Bernard Cooper (b. 1936)
“This day is called the Feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is nam’d
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours
And say, “Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.””
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“But men labor under a mistake. The better part of the man is soon ploughed into the soil for compost. By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed, as it says in an old book, laying up treasures which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves break through and steal. It is a fool’s life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)