#3111 - Helicoverpa punctigera - Australian Fruitworm
Since the Western Wheatbelt is so-called because some 150,000 sq.km of Western Australia got clear-felled for agriculture, it is not surprising that the majority of the moths I saw on the Wongan Hills trip are agricultural pests (Nor is surprising that an alarming proportion of the plant species are endangered because of habitat loss, but I'll be covering those latter).
Most of those agricultural pests are in the Noctuidae, like this one -
AKA native budworm, Australian bollworm, Grubby Tomatoes, Heliothis punctigera, and Chloridea marmada.
Most common in inland areas, but migrate long distances to the coast or even as far as New Zealand. The caterpillars feed on at least 100 different species of plant, including a wide range of crops.
These photos are both from the Perth metro area - the photos from the BioBlitz weren't as good.
