I was out with the Waikanae Scouts tonight teaching a weeding session and one of the leaders found this pūriri moth in the trunk of a pūriri tree which got stuck in its cacoon and subsequently died.
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@KorimakoEcology
Pardon my ignorance, what's the significance of the moth?
@KorimakoEcology
Thanks for sharing! Reminds me of cicadas. Really weird, but nature makes its own rules.
@lucifargundam "The pūriri moth (Aenetus virescens), also commonly called the ghost moth or pepetuna, is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. This moth is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's largest moth, with a wingspan of up to 150 mm. It spends the first five to six years of its life as a grub... with the last 48 hours of its life as a moth." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C5%ABriri_moth?wprov=sfla1