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

The caterpillars have also been found on plants in other families, including

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

The caterpillars have denser shorter black hairs around the head and thorax, and on the final abdominal segments, and a prominent pair of white hair pencils behind the thorax.

(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

The caterpillars grow to a length of about 7 cms.

Cocoon cut open to reveal pupa
(Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The caterpillars pupate in a buff papery double-walled cocoon among dead leaves or under a log.

male
photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

The adult moths vary in colour from yellow to brown, with a zig-zag submarginal line, and often a brown-edged yellow midline across each wing. The forewings each have two dark spots, and the hindwings one. The females can have wingspans up to 9 cms. The males are somewhat smaller.

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

The species is found mainly in the coastal areas of eastern Australia, including:

This caterpillar begins life as one of a row of egg-shaped off-white eggs.

male, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 28.5, p. 395.

Peter Hendry,
The Anthelidae,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 50 (September 2008), pp. 27-31,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 96.

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

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 11.

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 4 (1855), pp. 890-891, No. 6.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 156.

previous caterpillar

Australian butterflies

Australian Lepidoptera

Australian moths

next caterpillar

(updated 24 April 2013, 20 July 2019, 9 November 2020)