Recently, I’ve had caterpillars fall onto my path, cats as gifts, and cats gotten rid of as unwanted pests on (or around) my colleagues’ beloved plants. The collection of vials and containers on my desk and my bathroom at home has been growing. Some contain eggs, some house pupae, and others… other stuff. My latest obsession has been a patch of Clerodendrum plants near the Visitor Centre at the Botanic Gardens, which I’d visit every day after work if I could. It all started with these tussock moth pupae I discovered suspended in webs on its leaves… and took a few back, curious as to what would emerge from them. Turned out to be Perina nuda, and apparently all of them were male. Keeping an observation diary of sorts now… and I’ve a dozen suspected Perina nuda eggs waiting to hatch.
1: Un-IDed moth cats
2: Clearwing/Banyan Tussock (Perina nuda), pre-pupation
3: Grass yellow (Eurema sp.)
4: Common Awl (Hasora badra badra) cat
5: Sphingidae, pre-pupation (Hawk or Sphinx moth)
6: Nicknamed ‘Kaonashi’ aka ‘No Face’, Hesperiidae cat, possibly Telicota sp.?
7: Tussock moth
8: Un-IDed moth cat?