Zalissa catocalina Walker, 1865
(also known as Argyrolepidia subaspersa)
AGARISTINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Zalissa catocalina
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The adult moth of this species has brown forewings, each with a broad pale margin, and a pale splodge vaguely surrounded by a distorted broken black ring near the middle. The hindwings are yellow with broad black margins. The hairs on the thorax have a greenish tinge. The wingspan is about 4 cms.

Zalissa catocalina
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The eggs are white and spherical. They are laid in irregular piles.

Zalissa catocalina
(Photo: courtesy of Elva Robinson, Newcastle, New South Wales)

The underside of each forewing is mainly black with a white submarginal band and a white spot near the middle. The underside of each hindwing is similar to its upper surface.

The species occurs in

  • Papua,

    and also in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Zalissa catocalina
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Museums Victoria)


    Further reading :

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 33, Supplement part 3 (1865), p. 1412.


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    (written 27 December 2014, updated 14 August 2020)