Argina astrea (Drury, 1773)
Crotalaria Podborer
 (erroneously known as Argina astraea)
ARCTIINI,   ARCTIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Argina astrea
(Photo: courtesy of Valry Ryland, Magnetic Island, Queensland)

The Caterpillar of this species is boldly ringed in black and white, with a broken white line along the back, and an orange verruca on each side of each segment. The caterpillar has sparse long hairs, some black and some white.

Argina astrea
(Photo: courtesy of Valry Ryland, Magnetic Island, Queensland)

The caterpillar is known to feed on a variety of plants, including:

  • Beaumontia ( Beaumontia species, APOCYNACEAE ),
  • Rattle-Box ( Crotalaria species, FABACEAE ),
  • Peter's Fig ( Ficus petersii, MORACEAE ),
  • Lathberry ( Eugenia cordata, MYRTACEAE ), and
  • Mickey Mouse Bush ( Ochna serrulata, OCHNACEAE ).

    The early instars eat the foliage, and later instars eat the fruit and seeds.

    Argina astrea
    (Photo: courtesy of John Moore, Mt. Surprise, Queensland)

    The adult moth is yellow, with each forewing having 40 similar roundish black spots having pale outlines.

    Argina astrea

    and each hindwing having a variable number of unringed black spots of various shapes and sizes. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Argina astrea
    Drawing by Pieter Cramer, listed as Noctua cribraria    ,
    Uitlansche Kapellen, Voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 3 (1782), Plate CCVIII, fig. C,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The species has been found from Africa across Asia, including :

  • Borneo,
  • India,
  • Kenya,
  • Madagascar,
  • Papua New Guinea,
  • Thailand,

    as well as in Australia in:

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.


    underside,
    (Photo: courtesy of Dianne Clarke, Mapleton, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 36, 434.

    Pieter Cramer,
    Uitlansche Kapellen,
    Voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 3 (1782), pp. 27-28, and also Plate CCVIII, figs. C & G.

    Dru Drury,
    in John Obadiah Westwood:
    Figures and Descriptions of Foreign Insects,
    Illustrations of Exotic Entomology,
    Volume 2 (1773), pp. 13-14, and Plate 6, fig. 3.

    Peter Hendry,
    The Australian Arctiid Moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae) with emphasis on Creatonotos Gangis,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 65 (June 2012), pp. 12-13.

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

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 14.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 18.

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    (updated 5 July 2013, 4 October 2025)