The caterpillars pupate in the soil inside a silk cocoon.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Blackheath, New South Wales)

The male adult moths of this species have fully developed wings and can fly. Their wings are a uniform pale brown colour. The wingspan of the males is about 5 cms. The females cannot fly as they only have vestigial wings. The male antennae are white on top.

The species occurs in

male, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Joan Fearn, Moruya, New South Wales)

The status of this species and the distinctions between this and other Pterolocera species are unclear. It may also be a complex of several species.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 40.6, p. 396.

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

A. Jefferis Turner,
Revision of Australian Lepidoptera — Hypsidae, Anthelidae.,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 46, No.2 (1921), p. 170, No. 7.

previous caterpillar

Australian butterflies

Australian Lepidoptera

Australian moths

next caterpillar

(updated 26 April 2013, 3 October 2017, 14 April 2019)