Fascionycta fasciata (Moore, [1884])
(one synonym is Hyboma divisa Moore, 1888)
ACRONICTINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Fascionycta fasciata
(Photo: courtesy of Steven Dodge, Nowra, New South Wales)

This Caterpillar is smooth and green, with sparse long black hairs, a yellow stripe along each side, and two curved yellow stripes on the last segment.

Fascionycta fasciata
(Photo: courtesy of Steven Dodge, Nowra, New South Wales)

The head is pale green speckled with black, and has a black collar.

Fascionycta fasciata
(Photo: courtesy of Steven Dodge, Nowra, New South Wales)

The caterpillar has been found feeding on

  • Privet ( Ligustrum vulgare, OLEACEAE ).

    Fascionycta fasciata

    The adult moth is either brown or grey, with a pattern including a broken dark band across its forewings. It has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Fascionycta fasciata
    Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species occurs across south-east Asia, from Oman to New Caledonia, including

  • Bhutan,
  • Hong Kong,
  • Japan,
  • Malaysia,
  • Taiwan,

    and Australia in :

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Victoria.

    Fascionycta
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    Formerly: this species was placed in the genus Craniophora.


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 49.11, p. 463.

    Frederic Moore,
    The Lepidoptera of Ceylon,
    L. Reeve, London, Volume 3 (1884), p. 5, and also Plate 144, fig. 4.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 120.


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    (updated 15 May 2010, 5 November 2023)