| Ilima Moth (previously known as Berresa natalis) ACONTIINAE, NOCTUIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks,
Townsville, Queensland)
|
| Ilima Moth (previously known as Berresa natalis) ACONTIINAE, NOCTUIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks,
Townsville, Queensland)
These caterpillars are green, and have a reduced number of prolegs, so move in a looper fashion. They have been found feeding on a number of plants in MALVACEAE, including:
The adult moth has brown wings, with a number of incomplete jagged dark lines and white marks on each forewing. The males appear to have a bubble in each forewing. The hindwings are plain brown. The moth has a wing span of about 2 cms.
The moths have been studied for the ultra-sonic songs produced by the males, using a vibration and twisting of the wings to act on the bubble in each forewing.
The species is found in south-east Asia, including
and in Australia in
Further Reading:
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 47.14, pp. 51, 456.
K.-G. Heller & R. Achmann,
The ultrasonic song of the moth Amyna natalis (Lepidoptera:Noctudidae: Acontiinae),
Bioacoustics Journal
Vol. 5, Nos. 1,2, pp. 89-97.
Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 24-25, 26-27.
Francis Walker,
Deltoides,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 16 (1859), p. 214, No. 1.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 10 August 2012, updated 4 August 2023)
