Female Golden Sun-moth at Cooper Street Grassland, (Bababi Marning)

Golden Sun Moth Surveys -  results from this season's surveys. 

A Golden Sun Moth survey was held at Bababi Marning on Thursday 29 November - much earlier than expected. Five volunteers braved the heat (32-36⁰C) and the only limiting factor was the wind, which was a little stronger than we had hoped. However, this didn’t deter 11 male Golden Sun Moths from heading out to find a mate. All 11 moths sighted were in the area recently burned by Parks Victoria, with 6 of these located close to a stand of Blackwoods (perhaps a bit sheltered?).
A second survey was held on 10th January.  By this time, there were indications that the season was tapering off. Sure enough, despite ideal conditions, no moths were seen by the 11 volunteers...but, as MCMC crew members finished the last few unpromising points close to factories, a single male moth was sighted. 

These results were frustrating but negative results are also useful for the purpose of building information on moth emergence patterns. Volunteers also showed great ability in gathering data and were cheerful companions on the search.  New equipment was tried out and the survey method was further refined.  We have resources for attempting surveys again in coming years so look forward to community to join us again this coming November!