Digama marmorea Butler, 1877
(also known as : Sommeria marmorea)
AGANAINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Digama marmorea larva
(Photo: courtesy of Ian Common , from Moths of Australia)

These Caterpillars are grey, with a pale lateral line running each side just above the legs. The caterpillars feed on :

  • Currant Bush ( Carissa ovata, APOCYNACEAE ).

    Digama marmorea
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The adult moths of this species have brown or black and grey speckled forewings, each with a large dark area on the costa near the base. The hindwings are yellow with a dark spot and a grey wingtip.

    Digama marmorea
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

    The moths have a yellow abdomen with a black spot on the top of each segment. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    Digama marmorea
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species is found in the south-west Pacific as various subspecies, including

  • New Caledonia,

    and also commonly over much of the northern two thirds of Australia, including

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory, and
  • Victoria.

    Digama marmorea
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Aila Keto, Springbrook, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Arthur G. Butler,
    On the Lepidoptera of the family Lithosiidae, in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1877, pp. 363-364.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 3.3, pls. 19.19, 31.12, p. 442.

    Wesley Jenkinson,
    Moths photographed at Obum Obum,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 73 (June 2014), p. 31,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
    Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, p. 5.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 12.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2007, pl. 19.19, p. 184.


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    (updated 29 April 2013, 9 March 2015. 19 March 2016, 17 November 2017, 25 December 2019, 15 January 2020)