then with the radiant heat increasing, the metallic skinks 
(Niveoscincus metollicus) came out to bask on the rocks. 
The summit track is 3.7 km long and popular with 
joggers, walkers, dog walkers and bike riders and we 
were overtaken many times as we followed the path 
through this beautiful dry forest on the foothills of Mt 
Wellington. I looked up and found we were in a Banksio 
and Hakeo grove of many tall bushy shrubs, the former 
bearing 'brushes' in different stages of development. 
Robyn was excited to find a dead Pindi moth 
[Abontiodes latipennis), which is a species of moth in the 
Hepialidae family with the common names of swift moth 
or ghost moth. It is endemic to Australia and is most 
likely to be seen in temperate rainforest where 
eucalypts are present, as the larvae feed primarily on 
the roots of these trees. The females lay eggs during 
flight in a scattering fashion and the larvae live for over 
eighteen months underground, while adult moths 
survive for approximately one week, as they have no 
mouthparts with which to feed. The moths are preyed 
upon by a number of predators, including bats and owls. 
The males are generally smaller in size and while both 
sexes are brown overall the males are paler with more 
prominent identifying silver bars with darker margins on 
the wings than those of the female. 
When we stopped to look at the Pindi, Sabine noticed a 
live Epicomo melonosticto, a moth with a spectacular 
orangy top knot. This track is so full of surprises and the 
next one came when we entered a patch of 
AHocosuorino before reaching the more open flat 
summit where we had lunch before taking the 
downward part of the loop back to the car park. 
On the return downhill part of the loop many of the 
rocks on the fire trail had fossils of shells, clues to a 
previous marine habitat millions of years ago and back 
at the carpark Annie and I were treated to an aerial 
display by two dragonflies. The others joined us with 
another naturalist sighting of a Yellow-winged Locust 
(Gostrimorgus musicus ) depositing eggs in the dirt. 
Yellow-winged locust depositing eggs 
Photo: Amanda Thomson 
I don't suppose the locust was aware it was the centre 
of such attention. Amanda must have had her jewel 
beetle spotting glasses on because she found another 
beauty, Melobasis purpuroscens, in shimmering emerald 
green and pink. 
Although the bush was bone dry and the only fungi to be 
seen were some dehydrated polypores, the different 
patches of vegetation will be very interesting for fungi 
surveying and I will certainly be going back when we get 
some rain. 
Nest of Dusky woodswallows Photo: Amanda Thomson 
Birds: 
Green Rosella 
Spotted Pardalote 
Striated Pardalote 
Yellow-throated Honeyeater 
Yellow Wattlebird 
Grey Shrike-thrush 
Dusty Woodswallow 
Black Currawong 
Grey Fantail 
Welcome Swallow 
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike 
Flame Robin (female) 
Burrow entrance of trap-door spider Migas nitensf?), with its 
trap-door Photo: Amanda Thomson 
Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club 
Page 7 
BULLETIN 354 April 2014 
