Anthela astata Turner, 1926
ANTHELINAE,   ANTHELIDAE,   BOMBYCOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Anthela astata
early instars
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The caterpillers of this species are hairy. Early instars are yellow with a black head, an off-white collar, and a broad black line along the back.

Anthela astata
later instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

Later instars develop a white V-shaped face, rusty-red hairs on the thorax, two white spots and a pair of white hair pencils on the first abdominal segemnt, pairs of red verrucae along the back, and long black tufts on the last two segments.

Anthela astata
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The caterpillars accept young leaves of

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    Anthela astata
    cocoon
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

    The caterpillars grow to a length up to 6 cms.

    Anthela astata
    open cocoon
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

    Pupation occurs among leaves in a pale multiple layer papery cocoon.

    Anthela astata
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The adult male moths of this species are variable. They are usually pale brown, but with a variable number of darker spots, but always with a dark line across each wing, from the middle of the hind-margin to near the wingtip. On each forewing it bends briefly by a right-angle at the costa. The males have a wingspan of up to 7 cms.

    Anthela astata
    Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

    The female moths have pale brown wings, each with a prominent dark straight submarginal line, and a fainter zigzag line curving across the middle of each wing. The forewings have hooked wing-tips. The females have a wingspan of about 9 cms.

    Anthela astata
    female, repaired digitally
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The eggs are pale brown and ellipsoidal. They are laid in an untidy array on any surface on which thay happen to alight.

    Anthela astata
    eggs
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

    The species has been found in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales,.

    Anthela astata
    male, underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford & Dominic Funnell, Julatten, Queensland)


    Further reading :

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

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, pp. 9-10.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    Revision of Australian Lepidoptera: Drepanidae, Limacodidae, Zygaenidae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 51 (1926), pp. 411-412.


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    (updated 23 July 2013, 2 July 2023)