Guava Moth

Erebidae; Erebinae; Ophiusini; Ophiusa disjungens (Walker, 1858). Having seen many pictures of this species on the internet, I attempted from time to time to take some photos of my own for my collection. Although these moths were common in our area, the pictures I took were never very good. The moths were always rather ragged and worn looking when I spotted them. So I resolved to do something about it. I waited patiently until I saw some larvae on our Guava Tree and I collected two of them and brought them home to rear in captivity. I fed them on plenty of fresh Guava leaves every day until they pupated. When they eventually emerged, I saw how lucky I had been. I had two fine looking moths and (what were the chances?) I had one male and one female. My pictures, in order are: #1 the Female #2 the Male #3 one of the larvae and #4 an older picture just to show the difference between a poor tattered specimen and the fine, newly eclosed specimens.