(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Bundaberg, Queensland)

The caterpillar grows to a length up to 8 cms. The caterpillar normally pupates between the leaves of the foodplant in a voluminous off-white cocoon.

simple male
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Perth, Western Australia)

The adult moths vary from yellowish to reddish brown, with a straight dark line extending across each forewing, and a curved line across each hindwing.

complex male
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 1)

The males sometimes have other dark dots or zigzag markings on each forewing. The females have recurved wingtips. The females have a wingspan of about 7 cms. The males have a wingspan of about 5 cms.

female (incompletely expanded)
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

This species is widespread across Australia, including

female, underside with eggs
(Photo: courtesy of Evan Harris, Ipswich, Queensland)

underside, male
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Perth, Western Australia)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 395.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 1,
Silk Moths and Allies - BOMBYCOIDEA,
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2008, pp. 22-23.

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 4 (1855), p. 901.

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(updated 23 April 2013, 30 April 2019, 25 July 2020, 1 January 2021)