Oenochroma vinaria [Grevillea Looper]

[DaveO]

Oldfield, D. 2014. Oenochroma vinaria Guenée, 1857 (Geometridae) Grevillea Looper. Fauna photographed in visible and ultraviolet light. http://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php?/topic/724-oenochroma-vinaria-grevillea-looper/

 

 

 

 

Maldon, Victoria, Australia

18 March 2014

Australian Moth

 

Comment

Oenochroma vinaria, also known as the Hakea moth, is common on Hakea or Grevillea bushes in urban gardens and rural areas throughout Victoria. It gets the name Grevillea Looper from the action of the caterpillars on the bushes.

 

 

Visible Light: Pentax K-5 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Metz 15 MS-1 flash, 1/180 s @ f/11 ISO 200, B+W UV/IR Cut Filter.

Image Reference: DO52143

 

Ultraviolet Light: Pentax K-5 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Nikon SB-14 flash, 1/180s @ f/11 ISO 200, Baader UV-Pass Filter.

Image Reference: DO52146

 

 

References:

 

Marriott, P. Moths of Victoria, Part 4, Emeralds & Allies, Entomological Society of Victoria, 2012, p. 6.

 

http://bie.ala.org.a...ochroma+vinaria

 

 

Published 19 March 2014

[colinbm]

That is an interesting one Dave.

The moth is quite camouflaged by day to our human vision, but gives itself less camouflage in UV. I wonder what a UV seeing bird sees here, dinner or bark ?

Col

[Andrea B.]

Really nice capture, Dave.

Very interesting that the white stripe is UV-dark.

[DaveO]

What do you call the reflective elements on the wings? I guess they can't be conical cells if they are only found on plant surfaces, perhaps they are just scales. I wonder what produces the UV dark patterns in these? Gotta get that second hand SEM :D

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[colinbm]

This might give you a leg-up Dave ?

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21181707?report=abstract

 

1. Microsc Res Tech. 2011 Jan;74(1):28-35. doi: 10.1002/jemt.20869. UV-reflecting wing scales in the silk moth Antheraea assamensis: its biophysical implications. Dey S(1), Singh S, Dey S, Chaudhury S, Chakraborty R, Hooroo RN, Sharma DK. Author information: (1)Electron Microscope Division, SAIF, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793003, India. sudipdeyrsic@yahoo.com Scanning electron microcopy of the wing scales from some specific locations in the silk moth, Antheraea assamensis, revealed the presence of 50-60-nm-thick microridges and 80-nm-thick air spaces between them. The principle of optics suggests that when the measured average thickness of microridges or lamellae is about 50-60 nm, that of the air-space between them is about 80-82 nm, then due to the known refractive index of air (1.0) and the infrared refractive index of lamellar cuticle (1.60), the lamellae (microridges) and the intervening lamellar air spaces will have similar optical thickness. A common optical thickness for the two types of layers causes the microridge structures to function in the fashion of a quarter wavelength interference filter and to reflect UV light. Behavioral studies under the natural conditions and short experimental exposure of the moths to artificial UV light suggests that coupling behavior of the moth is governed to a significant extent by these UV-reflecting wing scales. The importance of the study in overcoming a major problem of low autocoupling efficiency of moths in the Muga Silk Industry is discussed with the help of relevant literature. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. PMID: 21181707 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Cheers

Col