(one synonym: Hypsa nesophora Meyrick, 1896)
AGANAIDAE , NOCTUOIDEA
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(Specimen: courtesy of the
Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(Specimen: courtesy of the
Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
The Caterpillars of this species start life as a pile of white eggs laid under a leaf of a food plant.
Initially the Caterpillars are communal, and skeletonize the undersides of the leaf. Later they separate. They feed on the leaves of a tropical Figs, for example :
The Caterpillars are brown with some white markings, and sparse white hairs.
The adults have yellow wings, each with a pale spot near the centre, and a circle of six black dots near the base. The hind wings are a deeper yellow, and have two black spots joined by arcs of little black spots. The body is yellow with a black mark on the top of each abdominal segment. The moths have a wing span of about 5 cms.
They are found from Sydney to Brisbane.
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 19.26, p. 441.
 caterpillar |
 butterflies |
 caterpillars |
 moths |
 caterpillar |
(updated 21 February 2009)